FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – Hayward Fain (Jr./Akron, Ohio) led a balanced attack with 17 points as Saint Augustine's College pulled away in the second half from Fayetteville State University for a 73-60 CIAA basketball win Saturday (Feb. 6) at Capel Arena.
The victory was the ninth in a row for the Falcons, who improved to 18-3 overall, 12-2 in the CIAA and 4-0 in the Western Division. The Falcons, ranked sixth in the Division II Atlantic Division and the Western Division leaders, have the CIAA's best league record and overall record. They are two wins away from their first 20-win season since 1997. The Broncos fell to 6-13 overall, 3-10 in the CIAA and 1-3 in the Western Division.
Chris Jordan (Sr./Houston, Texas) added 16 points, Steven Brignol (Sr./Brooklyn, N.Y.) scored 12 points and Shaun Washum (Jr./Norfolk, Va.) came off the bench to score 11 points for the Falcons, who shot 52 percent. Michael Carpenter scored 19 points and Ariel Robinson added 11 points for the Broncos, who shot 42 percent.
The Falcons led 37-30 at halftime, but the Broncos scored six consecutive points to pull within one point. The Falcons then went on a spurt. Jordan's three-pointer and Fain's bank shot made the score 48-40.
Jordan gave the Falcons a 56-46 lead with a three-pointer from the corner with a little under nine minutes left. Layups by Kalvin Patterson (Sr./Rocky Mount, N.C.) and Washum made the score 70-55 which put FSU away.
The Broncos were fired up early, racing to a 10-5 lead. The Falcons eventually pulled ahead 15-14 on Jordan's three-pointer. Fain, who had seven first-half points, hit a three for a 20-16 Falcon lead.
The Falcons padded the margin to 24-17 on the second of two consecutive layups by Jordan. A 7-2 run which included consecutive layups by Washum and a three-pointer by Brignol gave the Falcons a 31-19 lead with five minutes left in the half.
After an FSU timeout, Carpenter hit a bank-shot three pointer, but Jordan answered with an inside shot for a seven-point halftime lead for the Falcons. Jordan scored 10 points in the first half on 5 of 9 shooting for the Falcons, who canned 53 percent of their shots in the first stanza. Brignol, his backcourt mate, added eight points on 3 of 5 shooting.
Carpenter scored 10 points on 4 for 7 shooting for the Broncos and Robinson added six points on 2 of 3 three-point shooting. The Broncos stayed in striking distance by hitting 7 of 10 from the free throw line in the first half compared to 0 of 3 for the Falcons.
The Falcons take a day off before visiting Johnson C. Smith University on Monday (Feb. 8) in Charlotte, N.C. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
