[Men's Basketball] (RV) MBB Falcons Clamp Down in Second Half of 100-84 win over Tabor

WICHITA, Kan. – After allowing the Tabor College Bluejays to shoot 67.9 percent (19-of-28) in the first half, the (RV) Friends University Falcons locked down and held the Bluejays to just a 36.4 percent (12-of-33) clip after halftime and pulled away to a 100-84 victory tonight (Dec. 1) inside the Garvey Center.

The Bluejays started strong and led in the early going until consecutive threes by Luke Evans (FR/Wichita, Kan. ) ignited an 8-0 spurt and gave the Falcons their first lead of the game at 21-18 at the 11:40 mark of the opening stanza.

Friends wouldn't trail the rest of the night but the Bluejays hung tight for much of the remainder of the opening half until Atir Cherne (SR/Wichita, Kan.) scored 13 and hit three treys over the final 4:30, including a putback at the buzzer to give the Falcons a double-figure lead of 59-49 at the break.

The Falcons never looked back from there, as Vernon Vaughn (SR/Kansas City, Kan. ) (six points) and Jordan Murdock (SR/Wichita, Kan.) (four points) teamed up to lead a 10-4 spurt out of the locker room to push the lead to 16.

Following four straight from the Bluejays, seven points from Murdock keyed a 12-0 burst for Friends that resulted in the Falcons' biggest lead of the game of 81-59 with 10:33 left.

The Falcons never looked back from there, as the closest the Bluejays came was the final 16 point margin.

"A lot of good but plenty to get situated by Wednesday evening," Friends head coach Dale Faber said. "We had way too many defensive lapses in the first half but I thought we were a little more consistent on the defensive end in the second half."

Murdock scored 22 of his game-high 30 points in the second half to help the Falcons pull away.

Vaughn and Cherne each scored 16, with Vaughn also grabbing a game-high nine rebounds and Cherne dishing out a game-best five assists. James Conley (JR/Derby, Kan. ) scored 13 with four dimes and Evans chipped in with 11 points for the Falcons (5-4, 3-3 KCAC).

"Five guys in double-figures is nice to see," Faber said. "We needed that especially with the foul trouble we battled.  Atir, Vernon, Zion and Luke all played a more confident game and that allows us to flow much easier from transition into our half court look."

Darnell Jones-Bowie led the Bluejays (3-8, 1-5 KCAC) with 19 points and Shawntez Scroggins scored 12. Nathan Ahrens had 11 and Tevin Berry added 10 points.

The Falcons held a 40-35 edge on the glass and outscored the Bluejays 40-30 in the paint and 22-10 in second chance points.

Friends will next be on the road at No. 14-ranked Southwestern College Wednesday night (Dec. 5) at 8 pm in Winfield, Kan.

"We know that there is work to be done and we will get back after it on Monday," Faber said.