Friday, March 4, 2005

#6 EAGLES ADVANCE WITH 100-91 WIN OVER #2 SAINTS

Marietta, Ga. – Using a 60 point second half and a 24 point effort from freshman forward Brandon Vaughn (Remlap, Ala.), sixth seed Faulkner University upset second seed North Georgia College & State University 100-91 to move into the finals of the Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament.

The Saints got down early in the game once again as the Eagles broke out to a nine point lead after SSAC Freshman of the Year Vaughn hit a three to make the score 26-17 with 9:45 left in the game. Faulkner kept the lead for the next five minutes until a made field goal from sophomore guard Matt Causey (Gainesville, Ga.) gave the Saints their first lead of the game at 29-28. North Georgia had a four point lead with two minutes left in the first half, but buzzer beating three by freshman guard Jeremy Lunn (Lebanon, Tenn.) cut the lead to one and made the score 41-40 going into halftime.

The Eagles were down for the first 10 minutes of the second half, but a three pointer from senior forward Stevan Milic (Montenegro, Yugoslavia) gave Faulkner a 61-60 lead midway through the half. The Eagles, led by a slew of three's from Vaughn, went on a 22-9 run over the next five minutes to a 14 point lead. North Georgia began to press Faulkner in the final five minutes of the game and a big three from Causey behind the arc cut the lead to 91-86. The Eagles though jumped back out to a 10 minute lead with less than one minute left in the game and held on to advance to the next round.

Causey had a game high 40 points for North Georgia and added seven assists. Senior guard Bryce Brickhouse (Norcross, Ga.) chipped in 14 points and sophomore forward Mark Trust (Winder, Ga.) had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Vaughn led Faulkner with 24 points followed by Milic with a double-double of his own with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

With the loss, the Saints fall to 23-10 and must wait for the conference finally to see if they will earn a trip to the NAIA National Tournament. If Southern Polytechnic State University defeats Berry College tonight, North Georgia will win an automatic bid to the National Tournament.

The Eagles improve to 20-13 overall and will advance to the SSAC Tournament finals to face either SPSU or Berry College tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 p.m.

Box Score

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