Contributed
(Jan. 5, 2010)

MOBILE - Faulkner went the first nine minutes of the second half without a basket, and then couldn’t claw its way back as Mobile escaped with a 65-59 victory on Monday night.

The Eagles (7-5) led 34-31 at halftime, but the Rams took advantage of Faulkner’s poor-shooting start to the final 20 minutes to build a nine-point lead. THe Eagles did cut the margin to two with just under five minutes left and a had a chance to tie or take the lead, but could not convert on two opportunities. Mobile (6-2) then began hitting free throws down the stretch to nail down the victory.

The Eagles were paced by Drew Boland’s 14 points, while De Hereford added 11. Donte Walker led Mobile with 23 points. Ji Kimbrough, who made six straight free throws in the closing minutes, finished with 19.

Faulkner turned it over 28 times in the game and was outrebounded 39-37. Neither team show over 40 percent from the field, with the Eagles shooting 39 percent and the Rams 38.

"I thought we competed well the last six minutes of the game, but there were too many times tonight where I didn’t think the effort was there," Faulkner head coach Jim Sanderson said. "And I am really surprised by that. That’s something that certainly has to change if we’re going to compete in our conference."

Faulkner, which is 1-1 in the Southern States Athletic Conference, gets back into league play in Cleveland, Tenn., Thursday afternoon at 4. The game was originally scheduled to start at 7, but the tip time was changed due to the BCS Championship game that night.