Greg Carrell led the Falcons with 21 points and seven rebounds, propelling the team to a 78-72 victory against the Ottawa University Braves on Saturday, Dec. 2, on the Braves’ home court.

“We came out with a lot of intensity,” he said. “Everybody on the team had a good game that day.”

The Ottawa game was the first Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference game of the season. Winning at Ottawa was a first for the current group of seniors. The men are 4-5 overall and 1-0 in conference.

Head Coach Dale Faber was satisfied with his team’s performance.

“I thought we played with a purpose the whole game — that purpose was certainly to win,” he said.

During the first half, the game was a back-and-forth contest. Although the Falcons got ahead by six points at one point in the first half, Ottawa came back, and by halftime the score was 40-40. 

Timmy Ellis, a freshman forward, said his team started out shooting well in the first half. 

“It was pretty much just back-and-forth on the court shooting,” he said. “We got a couple of steals by Justin Rone who did some lay-ups.”

Ellis noted the play by his teammates Carrell, who he said was “shooting good that game,” and Justin Speer, a junior shooting guard. Speer was hitting three pointers.

Like the first half, the second half was close with both teams fighting to take the lead.  However, as the second half wore on, Friends managed to get up by five points. Ottawa then started fouling to prevent the Falcons from scoring.  

The Falcons, however, knocked down their free throws, pushing their lead to around 10. 

The effort of Trent Barney to save a loose ball late in the second half helped to increase the energy level, Carrell said. 

Friends scored 38 points in the second half compared to the Braves’ 32. 

On the defensive end, Ellis, the forward, recalled junior guard Matt Garvey’s effort.

“Because of his defense, he got quite a few steals,” Ellis said.

Carrell said the coaches had done a good job of preparing the team for the Braves who had significant size and were a strong team. To win the game, the Falcons had to stop the Braves’ transition offense and limit their post game, Faber said.

The team starts four seniors including Josh Urban, a forward; Stacy Bias, a center; Carrell, the guard; and Trent Barney at point guard. Garvey, the junior guard, also starts.

The team will match up against the Southwestern College Moundbuilders tonight at 8 at Southwestern. Faber describes the Moundbuilders as being a “very quick and athletic team” that uses defensive pressure against its opponents.

“We need to take care of the basketball,” Faber said, “that’s for sure.”

Upcoming games for the Falcons include two home games -- Kansas Wesleyan University on Saturday, Dec. 9, at 7 p.m. and Missouri Valley College on Dec. 15 at 7 p.m.