Faith Baptist Shoots Down Eagles

by HS Hoops

The Faith Baptist Crusaders and the Augusta Eagles put on a shooting exhibition at Faith Baptist's home gym in Ludowici, Georgia, Friday night.  In the end, the Crusaders proved to have more ammunition, securing an 84-74 victory and improving to an 18-5 record.  Augusta's second consecutive loss, following Tuesday's 55-43 defeat at Mount Vernon, leaves the Eagles record at 15-5.

The Eagles started strong, establishing a 14-6 lead and trading baskets with Faith Baptist most of the first half before falling behind 36-33 at intermission.  Augusta got many good scoring opportunities by using the screen and roll against the Crusdaders' man to man defense and eventually attacking Faith Baptist's 3-2 zone with dribble penetration.  Matt Miller scored 14 points during the opening half, and Paul Jones provided a spark with 9 first half points, including 3 three pointers, and Dominic Brown added 7 in the opening half.

The Eagles visit Faith Baptist in first of two game road trip.

After a slow start, Faith Baptist patiently attacked Augusta's defense, getting good shots in the paint and consistently converting free throw opportunities.  Jaquez Motley (34 points) and Shaven Steves (34 points) played intelligent floor games, repeatedly passing up quick, long shots, and working the ball into scoring range.  The pair led the Crusaders to an impressive field goal percentage (52%), while making 60% of their two point shots.

The Eagles also shot impressively, doing most of their damage from three point land (15-25, 60%).  Matt Miller led the way with 34 points, Austin Crown added 19, and Paul Jones finished with 14 in the loss.

The extra shot attempts created by Faith Baptist's 27-21 rebounding and 16-8 turnover advantage proved to be the difference in a game that saw few missed shots.

Check out this video for highlights from the game.