Falcons Win Conference Opener Against Loyola

TEMPLE TERRACE, Fla. - The Florida College Falcons opened off conference play with a bang, knocking off Loyola University - New Orleans 94-85!

The Falcons trailed for the majority of the first half. They entered the break down one point after a Zach Brock three-pointer with 27 seconds remaining.

The second half didn't start great, with Loyola jumping out to a 7-point lead after a Cameron Dumas bucket with 18:30 remaining. This would be Loyola's largest lead in the game.

Trailing by 4 with 15:04 left, the Falcons used a 13-0 run to take an 8-point lead. The run was started off by a Brad Allen three-pointer, followed by an Ethan Smith three-ball. Allen then nailed another one, and Roark split a pair of free throws before hitting a three of his own. The three was one of five for Roark in the game.

Later the Falcons went on a free throw spree. Bryce Nickels made all six of his attempts on the night. After a Brad Allen made free-throw with 3:30 left, the Falcons had their biggest lead of the contest at 14 points.

Loyola wouldn't give up, as they would cut it to seven with 20 seconds left to play. Good work from the charity stripe (34-42) prevented the Wolfpack from making it a close finish.

FC had five players reach the double-figure scoring mark. Jacob Roark led the way with 20 points. Matt Simpson had 13 points and five offensive rebounds. Stefan Nakic-Vojnovic was right at his average of 13 points and 6 rebounds of his own. Brad Allen added 10 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists; while Austin Mills chipped in 11 points.

This was a free-throw contest for most of the game. Loyola shot 47 while the Falcons shot 42. FC had the considerably better percentage from the line, their 81% topped the Wolfpack's average 63.8%.

While Loyola managed 20 more shots than the Falcons on the night, a key difference was the three-point line. FC nailed 14 three's at a 38.9% clip. Loyola only managed one made three-pointer on 16 tries. The Falcons really defended the arc well. That 39 point difference from range proved to be a big one.

The Falcons shared the ball well, in route to 20 assists on 23 made field goals. Andrew Voss and Bryce Nickels continued their strong shot-blocking seasons. Voss had 3 blocks on the night while Nickels added 2.

"What a win for our program," stated head coach Pat Todd. "These guys came out and took the early punch Loyola gave them and really bounced back and battled the rest of the way. Coach Teichmann did a great job helping get us prepared and our guys really played well. We are extremely proud of our group."

"That is a really good team we just beat," said assistant coach Chase Teichmann. "They are extremely athletic and well-coached. You're going to have to earn every win in this league and that is exactly what our guys did tonight, they earned it."

It doesn't get any easier for the Falcons (6-2 / 1-0) as they return to action on Saturday at 3 PM (ET) against #10 William Carey University (3-3 / 1-0).