Falcons Fight but Fall to #18 William Carey

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Florida College Falcons (11-10, 5-8 SSAC) were defeated 86-70 on Saturday afternoon by the William Carey University Crusaders (16-5, 12-1 SSAC).

The Falcons started the game off with great intensity and focus. Andrew Voss got FC started off with a dunk to take the 2-0 lead. Defensively, the Falcons forced tough shots late in the shot clock by low percentage shooters early, however, the Crusaders were hot in their own gym to start. They made nine of their first ten shots, including 5-of-5 from three-point range. FC wouldn't lay down though, after allowing the 18-2 run by WCU, they would rally to go on a 31-9 run of their own to take the 33-27 lead!

WCU would end up cutting the lead to 1 point at the half, as the Falcons led 40-39 after a Zach Brock layup with just seconds left.

The second half saw the Crusaders jump on the Falcons early. Just seven minutes in they had a 10 point lead of 54-44. The Falcons kept it in single digits the next five minutes but by the 8-minute mark, the Crusaders started slowing the game down to limit possessions, something they do often while leading. This would result in somewhat of a comfortable finish for WCU.

On a relatively low scoring night for the fast-paced Falcons, Jacob Roark led the team with 13 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists. Stefan Nakic-Vojnovic kept his double-digit streak going and put up 12 points. Ethan Smith chipped in 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists in the loss.

"I challenged our team to defend today, and they did, especially in the first half," stated head coach Pat Todd. "I'm not into moral victories, but I am into playing hard and smart and for each other. That is what we did today. We didn't make enough shots in the second half to win the game. This is a really tough place to win a ball game."

The Falcons hit the road again on Thursday, as they'll take on the Bethel University Wildcats in Mckenzie, Tenn. Bethel won the first meeting in Temple Terrace.