From the moment of the jump ball, when Friends secured possession and scored on the first shot, things fell into place for the Falcons as they overpowered Newman University 96-76 Friday night.

The Newman matchup wasn’t a game played for conference action. It was a game played for pride, a rivalry that is carried on from year to year.

Friends was prepared this year to take back what the Falcons thought was rightfully theirs, the Flying 54 trophy, which Newman secured after Friends lost by two points in last year’s game when they traveled to the south side of Highway 54 to Newman.

Newman had to travel to the north side of 54 this year to face the Falcons at Garvey Gymnasium, and the Falcons had no intention repeating last year’s performance.

Friends took advantage of opportunities early in the game. The Falcons played with passion and aggression, stealing the ball from the Jets five times in the first eight minutes.

“We played with a purpose and an intensity that was unselfish,” Coach Dale Faber said.

The first half Friends pushed the ball inside the paint, causing major damage to the Newman defense.

Newman lagged behind the entire first half, never cutting the lead closer than nine points after the first 10 minutes.

When Friends did make mistakes in Friday’s game, the team would find a way to answer back.

With 8:44 left in the half Friends threw the ball away twice. However, the next play junior Josh Urban scored under the board and put away two free-throws. Again, with 2:58 to go, Urban secured two more free-throws. He ended  six of eight from the line for the night.

As the half came to an end, junior Greg Carrell popped off a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded.  Friends headed into the locker room leading 53-34.

The second half opened with a Friends foul, a turnover and a missed layup. It took three minutes for the Falcons to regroup and put their first points on the board in the second half.

Newman took advantage of the errors, throwing up shots under the board that kept falling in.

With 12:14 left in the half Friends was still leading 69-52.

“Sometimes we were too emotional and made fundamental mistakes on defense, but we made up for it with our offense,” junior Adam Waterson said.

With Newman’s switch to a zone defense after halftime, Friends began spreading the ball out to the perimeter and sinking countless three-pointers, forcing Newman to switch back to a man-to-man defense in an attempt to shut Friends’ offense down.

Five players put up double figures for the Falcons on offense, paired with 24 assists and 34 field goals.

With 3:13 left in the game the Friends student section began chanting “north side … north side,” as it became apparent that the Falcons had clenched the Flying 54 trophy with pride.

Friends didn’t let down as the game drew to a close. The Falcons sent Newman back to the south side of Highway 54 with a Falcon win.

“We topped it off the right way letting the students and administration of Friends share in our win and the (Flying 54) trophy,” Faber said.

Click here to see President Biff Green and Mayor Carlos Mayans with the Mayor's Cup.