MONTGOMERY- The #8 Thomas Night Hawks (12-17, 10-11 SSAC) defeated the #9 Faulkner Eagles (14-15, 9-12 SSAC), in the opening round of the SSAC Basketball Tournament. For Thomas, the win marked the second time this season that they have defeated the Eagles in Montgomery. The Night Hawks won on the Eagles home court in January, and defeated the Eagles on the neutral site court, on Wednesday, at the Cramton Bowl Multiplex, despite the neutral site being five miles from the Faulkner campus.
Thomas controlled the game, from the tip, as the lead never switched hands, and was only tied at 3-3, early in the action. Keon Williams opened the scoring in game with a three-pointer. Thomas extended their lead to nine points before the 12-minute media timeout. Jarvis Brown drained a long-distance three=pointer, just before the media timeout.
A layup by Tyson Anderson, followed by a Noah Lattin 3-pointer, ignited an 11-2 run to close out the 1st half. The lead would have been larger, had a 55-foot buzzer-beater, by Brown, not been waved off by the officials, saying the shot occurred after the buzzer. Thomas would still own a 32-20 halftime lead. Anderson, Brown, and Williams would each score seven points in the half to lead the Night Hawks in scoring. Brown and Deonta Jones would lead Thomas in rebounding, at the half, with six each.
Thomas would extend their lead to 18 points by the 16:33 mark in the 2nd half. Jones and Jailin Lee would lead the run, and Andre Lightbourne would knock down a three-pointer, forcing an Eagle timeout. After Faulkner cut the lead to 12 points, with 10:38 remaining, Keon Williams would heat up. Williams would hit the net five field goals for the Night Hawks, all from behind the arc, over the next five minutes, to help extend the Thomas lead to 25 points. Thomas would ultimately win the contest by 16 points.
Williams would lead all players in scoring, with 22 points, going 6/8 from behind the arc. Deonta Jones would lead the Night Hawks with eight rebounds, five assists, five rebounds, and score 11 points. Jarvis Brown would chip in 11 points and seven rebounds. Thomas would shoot 47.7% from the field, and 40.7% from the arc, while holding Faulkner to 35.7% shooting from the field and 26.1% from the arc.