Falcons Squander Chance at Sweet 16 Appearance

LAKELAND, Fla. - The #2 seed Florida College Falcons fell to the #10 seed St. Thomas University Bobcats Wednesday night in The Furnace at Southeastern University in the Round of 32 of the NAIA National Tournament, 86-84 in overtime.

The Falcons took the lead at the 18:25 mark and never relinquished it again in regulation. They would lead by as many as 11 in the first half, before heading into the intermission with a nine-point advantage.

The second half saw the Falcons extend their lead to 15 points with 15:59 remaining in the game. STU made their run and tightened the gap. However, a Bryan Chong three-pointer extended the lead back to nine with 2:32 remaining.

The Bobcats would hurry down the court and get the Falcons to fall for a shot fake, creating an open three for Milton Matthews, who cut the lead to six with 2:17 remaining.

The Falcons would get fouled on the next possession but missed a pair of big free throws that could have put the team up three possessions. The Bobcats responded with another three, this one by D'Andre Johnson with 1:42 remaining to cut the FC lead to just 3 points. Anthony Bittar would be fouled and split free throws to extend the lead to 4. D'Andre Johnson for St. Thomas then missed a three, but the rebound went to the corner where Milton Matthews heaved up a tough shot from the corner very near the baseline, but drained it. It was ruled a long two-pointer. This cut the Falcons' lead to two points with 55 seconds remaining.

The Falcons came out of the timeout and drew up a nice bucket for Calvin Finch Jr. to give them a two-possession lead, 75-71 with 38 seconds remaining. STU would come down and miss their three-point attempt, and Ethan Smith grabbed the rebound before getting the ball to Matt Simpson who was fouled with 29 seconds remaining. Simpson, the 84% free throw shooter, went to the line, up four to shoot a 1-and-1. He missed the front end and the Bobcats buried a three with 19 seconds remaining. The Falcons inbounded it to Bittar who was fouled. Bittar calmly went to the line and was able to sink both attempts, extending the lead back to three.

St. Thomas took their last timeout with 8 seconds left in the halfcourt with possession of the ball. They entered it to Milton Matthews who used one dribble to create separation before nailing the game-tying three-pointer with 5 seconds remaining. Matt Simpson's half-court heave hit back rim and the game headed to overtime.

Milton Matthews continued his hot shooting in overtime, burying two more threes before fouling out with 3 minutes left. It was St. Thomas' first lead in over 38 minutes of gameplay. Down two with 3:26 left, Finch split a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to one point. Down one with 1:17 left, Finch would go 0-for-2 at the foul line, to stay behind by one on the scoreboard. The Falcons got a stop but turned it over with 39 seconds left.

STU then got a shot clock violation with 11 seconds remaining, up 85-84. FC took their last time out. The Bobcats came out of the timeout and doubled Simpson, denying him the ball. Bittar took it up the court and drove right but was blocked on his potential game-winning layup attempt by D'Andre Johnson. The Falcons would foul with 0.5 left and Johnson hit the first before intentionally missing the second, and time expired as the Falcons gained possession.

The Falcons were led in scoring by Matt Simpson with 28 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Calvin Finch Jr. added 21 points and 9 rebounds. Anthony Bittar added 18 points and 10 rebounds and 4 assists to round out the double-figure scorers for FC.

The Falcons shot 54% from the free throw line in the game, coming into the game shooting 72% as a team. The Bobcats move on to face #6 seed Tougaloo (Mississippi) in Kansas City, Missouri on Monday, March 13.

The #14 ranked Falcons finish the regular season with a record of 27-6. They won a game in the NAIA National Tournament for the second consecutive year.