Contributed
(Feb. 21, 2010)

Adam Okechukwu scored 10 straight points in a 13-2 decisive second-half run as Faulkner pulled away from Southern Wesleyan for a 62-49 Southern States Athletic Conference victory Saturday afternoon at Tine Davis Gymnasium.

The game was tied at 35 with 11:02 left when Okechukwu caught fire, hitting short-range baskets on four straight possessions and then adding a pair of free throws to give the Eagles a 48-37 lead with 6:31 left. The Warriors would get no closer than nine the rest of the way.

Faulkner’s victory came on Senior Day, with forwards Randell Moore and Oneil Mangal honored prior to the game.

“It was an important game for us to win, and think we played really well defensively,” Faulkner head coach Jim Sanderson said. “It wasn’t a great-shooting game, and if we hadn’t gotten it done on the defensive end we might have lost.”

The Eagles (17-10, 6-6 SSAC) shot just 38 percent from the field, but held the Warriors to 36 percent shooting. Chris Palmore led Faulkner with 17 points, while Okechukwu finished with 16. Southern Wesleyan’s Nick Lagroone, who had 37 points in the first meeting with Faulkner, scored only nine Saturday. The Warriors didn’t place anyone in double figures.

Faulkner travels to Marietta, Ga., Thursday night to face league-leading Southern Poly at 7.

Baseball sweeps Bluefield

Faulkner’s Mike Zenko tossed a four-hit shutout in the opener, then Justin Hay slammed the door on a Bluefield last-inning comeback in the nightcap as the Eagles swept the Rams 8-0 and 8-4 Saturday in a doubleheader at Harrison Field.

Zenko struck out three in improving to 1-1 overall with a 1.64 earned-run average for the Eagles (8-4). In the second game Jacob Simmons earned the victory when Hay got out of a bases-loaded, two-out jam. Bluefield (3-3) is the defending National Christian College Athletic Association national champion and received votes in the current NAIA poll.

Kenny Miramontes hit a home run for the Eagles in the first game, while Ryan Reece had a two-run homer and Ronald Tarvin a solo shot in the second game.  In the first game, every player in the Faulkner lineup had a hit. In the second game Jonathan Gober had two hits and an RBI.

Faulkner and Bluefield play a nine-inning game Sunday at noon.