MONTGOMERY, Ala. – A layup with time ticking away from Jayden Cooper gave Faulkner a 73-71 against Blue Mountain Men here Saturday in SSAC play.
It was high drama heading into the final 30 seconds of the game, as the Toppers would tie it late but couldn't come away with a victory.
The Eagles came out smoking from the field in the first half, skipping the ball around the Blue Mountain defense while hitting 57 percent from the field as J.C. Norris led with 13 points.
Vincent Douglas would lead the Toppers with 10 points at the break with Faulkner leading 43-29.
In the second half, the Toppers came out on a 19-8 run, aided by two threes from Jalen-Boyd Savage to cut the Eagle lead to 51-48.
With less than 30 seconds to go, Manny Patrick picked up a steal for Blue Mountain and led Trae Jones to the basket for a layup to tie the game at 71-71.
Faulkner had the possession with 17 seconds left to go when Cooper used a backdoor cut to the basket to receive a pass from Victor Munoz and put in the easy bucket.
Blue Mountain would get off one shot from behind the three-point arc in the corner from Vincent Douglas that rattled around and wouldn't fall.
Boyd-Savage would finish with 23 points to lead all scorers, while Douglas had 16 and six boards and Keevin Etienne chipped in 11 points with eight rebounds.
The Eagles would shoot 53 percent on the day while the Toppers shot 48 percent.
Blue Mountain would go 7-for-20 from deep and Faulkner went 10-for-21.  The Toppers won the rebounding battle at 32-27.
BMCU (8-14, 2-12 SSAC) returns to SSAC play Thursday as they host Point University in Blue Mountain at 7:30 p.m. CT.
 
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