Falcons Edge Eagles in Mabee Fieldhouse Thriller

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Avila men's basketball very nearly pulled off an epic comeback, cutting a double-digit deficit all the way down to one in the late stages of the second half, but Friends (6-8, 3-6 KCAC) was able to outduel Avila (2-9, 1-8 KCAC) in the end, holding on for a 67-63 victory on Wednesday night in Mabee Fieldhouse.

The Mabee Fieldhouse stands were packed and loud on a night with a lot of promotions and events on the table, and the action lived up the expectations. The Eagles put in one of their better performances of the season and nearly pulled off a comeback before ultimately coming up just short.

The Falcons led by just one at halftime before opening up a big lead in the second half – a lead as large as 18 points with 13 minutes left in regulation. Avila has spotted its opponents big runs in the second half on more than one occasion this season, but this time, although the Falcons certainly did manage a big run early in the half, the Eagles responded with a counterstrike that nearly helped them pull off the killer comeback.

There was very little to separate the team stats in the contest: Avila shot slightly better from the field, Friends shot slightly better from beyond the arc; Friends had a couple more rebounds, Avila had a couple more assists. One key difference came at the foul line: Friends went 77% (20-of-26) from the line as a team while Avila was only afforded 15 shots and made only ten (66.7%) – the Falcons were plus-10 at the foul line and ended up eking out a four-point win.

After a dead even opening six minutes, Friends made the first mini surge to go ahead 19-11 with about 13 minutes left, but Avila canceled that out immediately thanks to back-to-back three-pointers from Jared Larson followed by a go-ahead trey from George Williams to give the Eagles a 20-19 lead. The teams then traded blows from there – neither led by more than four points the rest of the way, and Friends took a slim 30-29 lead into the locker room.

Avila got the scoring started in the second half when Williams set up Matthew Boldt for a bucket on the first possession of the period, but Friends took over from there, holding Avila without a field goal over the next seven minutes to open up the game's largest lead, 50-32, with 13 minutes left in regulation.

Another deep ball from Williams finally got the Eagles moving again, and then Jaren Miller took over, scoring Avila's next nine points to get the home team in gear. Buckets from Robert Lee and James Ross got the Eagles within single digits, and then Williams set up Ross for a deep ball to bring Avila all the way back within a point, 55-54, with 4:45 to go.

Friends hadn't scored a single point in more than six minutes as Avila nearly wiped away the 18-point deficit – but, unfortunately, the Eagles could get no closer. Drew Patterson hit a critical three inside of three minutes to keep Friends ahead by six, and the Eagles couldn't make up the difference. Friends ended a long losing streak against Avila by pulling out a 67-63 road win.

KJ Spiller led all players with 21 points, 14 of which came in the first half, along with six rebounds. Ross led the Eagles with 15 points, and Miller added 12, tying a season high.

Up next, Avila men's basketball will travel out to Salina, Kansas to face Kansas Wesleyan this Saturday, January 13. Due to expected weather throughout the state of Kansas this weekend, the game times have been adjusted and are subject to change even further: currently, the doubleheader is scheduled to begin with the women's game at 1 PM and the men's game to follow at 3 PM. As always, you can watch all the action live and for free on the KCAC Network; stay tuned to @Avila_athletics on social media for any further updates.