Huntingdon’s Chris Roberts shoots between two Faulkner defenders in the Hawks’ loss to the Eagles Monday. (Staff Photo)

Staff Report
(Feb. 2, 2010)

The Faulkner Eagles defeated Huntingdon College, 84-66, giving head coach Jim Sanderson his 400th career victory.

But Sanderson was more interested in giving his past players the glory… and asking his current team to step up.

"I haven’t had a shot since I’ve been a coach and I haven’t made a rebound," he said. "I’m glad for the guys, but it was a frustrating game and we have to get ready for the rest of the season."

Huntingdon had four players score in double figures and led briefly against the bigger Eagles’ squad, but a 16-5 spurt by Faulkner proved to be too much to overcome, as the Hawks fell at Tine Davis Gymnasium.

Sanderson, in his 20th season, has won 400, lost 240 in two different stints that included a sabbatical for health reasons. His career also includes leading the Eagles to the 2001 NAIA national title.

“It was important to us to get the win for him,” Faulkner forward Chris Palmore said. “We knew about it but I don’t think he did. We wanted to surprise him.”

Huntingdon trailed by just three points, 37-34, at the intermission, and was down just two with 16:55 remaining after a lay-up by Deshaun Williams. However, Faulkner answered with a game-deciding 16-5 run during the next five minutes to its largest lead of the game to that point, 60-47.

The Hawks pulled to within six points, 62-56, with 9:43 left in the game following a pair of free throws by Montgomery, but were unable to get any closer, as the Eagles turned up the defensive pressure for the remainder of the contest. For the game, Faulkner recorded 31 points off of 25 Huntingdon turnovers, including 20 points in the decisive second half.

Faulkner was led by Adam Okechukwu with 18 points, while Andrew Boland added 17 points off the bench. Palmore chipped in 11 points.

Ephraim Hudson led the Hawks (9-9) with 18 points and Williams added 13 points. Senior Doug Murry and junior Jack Montgomery chipped in 12 points and 10 points, off the bench respectively.

Michael Campbell finished with a team-high eight rebounds, as the Hawks fell on the glass by just one rebound, 42-41, to the much larger Eagles (13-8).

For the contest, Huntingdon converted 20-of-60 shots from the floor, while Faulkner knocked down 28-of-59 shots, good for 47.5 percent.

Faulkner returns to SSAC action when goes on the road to face Shorter College on Thursday.

Huntingdon will play host to Piedmont in a Great South Athletic Conference doubleheader at Roland Arena. Tip-off of the men’s game is scheduled for 4 p.m. The game can be seen on a live Webcast on River Region Sports.