Falcons Fall to Faulkner

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The Florida College Falcons lost 86-79 to the Faulkner University Eagles on Thursday night.

Trailing by 18 with 7 minutes to go in the first half, the Falcons rallied to only trail by 10 at the break. This coming after missing a couple of very easy shots and allowing 10 offensive rebounds to the Eagles in the first stanza.

The Falcons cut the deficit to 2 on an Ethan Smith three-pointer with 1:34 left. The Eagles would stall as they did their last five or so possessions, and Rene Scott was bailed out driving to the rim with six on the shot clock and made both free throws. After fouling to extend the game, the Falcons lost by seven.

Jacob Roark erupted for a season-high 27 points on 8-of-20 shooting. Matt Simpson tallied 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting in his first career start. Stefan Nakic-Vojnovic put up 13 points and 8 rebounds for FC. The Eagles doubled FC's free throw attempts (16 to 32).

The loss puts the Falcons in a tough spot where they do not control their own destiny anymore to make the conference tournament. The Falcons need a win at Middle Georgia on Saturday to even stay alive. A loss eliminates them from contention. If they beat MGSU, they'll need Bethel to beat Mobile, and Stillman to beat Blue Mountain. If that happens, the Falcons are in. Consequently, in this scenario, BMC would have to go Brewton-Parker on Monday to make up their game that was canceled due to floor conditions. If Blue Mountain won, there would be a 3-way tie for 9th and 10th and BMC and FC would go. If BMC lost, Mobile and FC would tie for 9th and FC would win the tiebreaker after sweeping Mobile in the season series, but Mobile and FC would both make the tournament, and BMC would be left out. To summarize, FC only gets left out with a loss Saturday, or a win paired with a Mobile and Blue Mountain win.