[Men's Basketball] Men's Basketball Falcons Pull Out 81-74 win at Southwestern
Winfield, Kan. – The Friends University Falcons led most of the way and came up with just enough of a finishing touch to put away the Southwestern College Moundbuilders 81-74 tonight (Jan. 16) in Winfield, Kan.
The Falcons grabbed the lead on five straight points from PJ Medrano (SR/San Antonio, Texas) with 2:37 left in the first half and carried a 35-30 lead into the break.
A three by Ian Konek (SO/Long Beach, Calif.) then gave the Falcons their biggest lead of the night at the 12:43 mark of the second half.
After the Builders clawed within two, a three by Medrano stretched the lead back to 54-47 with 9:38 left.
That's the point the Builders made their move, as a three by Troy Baker capped a 9-1 spurt to give Southwestern a 56-55 lead, its first edge since the 3:57 mark of the opening half.
Konek would hit two of three free throws to temporarily put the Falcons back in front until Jake Haertl connected from beyond the arc to continue the see-saw action and put the Builders on top 59-57.
But Medrano assisted on a game-tying bucket inside by Marquan Shakur (SR/Largo, Md. ) before nailing another big three to give the Falcons a lead they wouldn't relinquish the rest of the way.
Zhahidi Robinson scored for the Builders to make it a one-point game, but Konek hit two free throws that was followed by another trey from Medrano and four consecutive free throws by Pack that gave the Falcons a double-digit lead, their largest of the game with just 1:02 remaining.
Pack would hit all eight of his remaining attempts at the charity stripe down the stretch and Shakur added two more free throws to put the game away for the Falcons.
"Very proud of the effort for 40 minutes, we still had some glitches down the stretch that we'll continue to work on," said Friends head coach Dale Faber. "Two seniors, Davonte (Pack) and Marquan (Shakur) came up big at the free throw line for us, so we were able to finish the deal."
The Falcons jumped out to a quick start out of the gate, leading 14-6 at around the midway point of the opening stanza before the Builders battled back with a 16-7 burst to take their first lead since it was 4-2 in the early stages of the contest.
Pack led everyone with his fourth double-double in his last five games, a 29 point and 11 rebound effort to pace the Falcons. Pack's line included hitting a career-best and extremely important 17-of-18 from the charity stripe.
Konek scored 18 for the Falcons (4-9, 4-6 KCAC), while Medrano added 16 points along with a career-best seven boards. Shakur also had eight rebounds in the win for Friends.
Steele Gaston-Chapman led the Builders (8-6, 4-4 KCAC) with 21 points and Robinson added 13. Baker chipped in with 12 points for Southwestern.
The Falcons held a 40-39 edge overall on the glass, but were outscored 28-16 in the paint by the Builders.
Friends' defense was tough all night, but was particularly stingy along the perimeter, holding the Builders to just a 23.7 percent (9-of-38) clip from three-point distance.
The Falcons are next scheduled to play at McPherson College next Wednesday night (Jan. 20) starting at 8 pm in McPherson, Kan. Friends won the earlier matchup between the two schools, 91-81 back on Dec. 5 inside the Garvey Center.