KCAC

[Men's Basketball] Spires rally in second half for 74-71 win over Men's Basketball Falcons

WICHITA, Kan. – The University of Saint Mary Spires scored nine of the game's final 11 points to escape with a 74-71 win over the Friends University Falcons tonight (Jan. 8) inside the Garvey Center.The Spires' deciding run started following a three by Ian Konek (JR/Long Beach, Calif.) that put the Falcons on top 69-65 with 3:33 remaining.A bucket by Che Smith and a three by Shawn Person proceeded to give the Spires their first lead since it was 4-3 at the 17:42 mark of the opening half.The Falcons weren't done and got a driving layup from Konek to regain the lead with 40 seconds left.But that was the last points of the game for the Falcons and Diego Lucas got free on the corner to hit a jumper to give the Spires the lead for good.The Falcons then failed to score and Brad Hailey hit two free throws on the other end with one second remaining to seal the win for Saint Mary.In the first half, the Falcons created early separation when a steal and a layup from Trey Reid (FR/Wichita, Kan. ) and a two-handed slam by Tim Barbieri (JR/Abilene,Kan. ) capped a 10-2 spurt and resulted in a double-figure lead of 20-10 at the 13:09 mark.Friends carried a 41-32 lead into the break and still maintained a nine-point edge as late as the 10:13 point of the second half.Konek produced a line of 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field and a season-high 6-of-11 from three-point distance to anchor the Falcons offensively.Alex Gray (FR) put together the best game of his career for the Falcons, scoring 14 points and producing a team-high 10 boards along with dishing out five assists. Jordan Gary (FR/Decatur, Ga. ) also reached double-figure scoring with 10 points for Friends (5-12, 4-7 KCAC).Smith paced the Spires with 18 points, while Hailey and Luke Mackey each added 12 points. Hailey also led Saint Mary with six boards and Mackey had a team-best five assists.The final numbers reflected how tight the game was contested, with both teams shooting efficiently from the field.  The Spires narrowly outshot the Falcons (48.4 percent – 48.1 percent) and also held a close 32-31 edge on the glass.The second chance points were even at 12-12 and the Falcons outscored the Spires 28-24 in the paint.The Falcons will next face a stern road test at No. 19-ranked Kansas Wesleyan University Monday night (Jan. 10) at 8 pm in Salina, Kan.