KCAC

[Men's Basketball] No. 4 Oklahoma Wesleyan uses big second half push to avoid Falcons' upset bid

WICHITA, Kan. – For 32 minutes, the Friends University Falcons went toe to toe with the No. 4-ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan University Eagles. But the Eagles produced a second half run that propelled them to a 73-62 win in KCAC action tonight (Jan. 29) inside the Garvey Center.In a furious back-and-forth first half that featured six ties and 10 lead changes, the final lead change came when Alex Gray (FR) drilled a three with 38 seconds left to give the Falcons a 32-30 lead at the break.Gray picked back up and hit another trey to begin the second half and then five straight points from Trey Reid (FR/Wichita, Kan. ) handed the Falcons a 47-40 edge at the 15:05 mark.The Falcons maintained control for the next five minutes and twice extended to an eight-point lead, with the last occurrence coming on a three by Jordan Gary (FR/Decatur, Ga. ) that made it 55-47 with 10:29 left.That's when the top-ranked defense in the KCAC clamped down, scoring the next 15 points of the game to take a seven-point lead with 6:17 remaining.The Eagles scored 11 of those 15 points at the charity stripe and held the Falcons scoreless for more than four and a half minutes during that stretch.A three by Reid snapped the drought and a free throw by Connor Kern (FR/Prosper, Texas) cut the lead to three to assure the Falcons wouldn't go away quietly.But six straight points from Derrick Talton Jr. created a nine-point lead for OKWU and sparked a 9-1 spurt to close out the game.Reid finished with team-high 19 points for the Falcons and Gray added 14 points. Ian Konek (JR/Long Beach, Calif.) scored 11, while Connor Kern led the team with seven rebounds and Drew Patterson (FR/Charlotte, NC) dished out a team-best five assists.Jaden Lietzke led the Eagles with 18 points, while Valentin Van Putten had a double-double of 13 points and 12 boards. Talton Jr. also scored in double-figures with 10 points for OKWU.The Falcons outshot the Eagles both from the field (44 percent-41.9 percent) and from three-point distance (45 percent-20 percent), but the Eagles dominated the interior with a 45-26 edge in rebounding that led to advantages of 34-24 in points in the paint and 23-4 in second chance points.Friends will next be at Ottawa University Wednesday night (Feb. 2) at 8 pm in Ottawa, Kan.