3 observations from the FACS Crusaders’ win over ECS
FACS survived a scare Tuesday night at home, holding off Evangelical Christian School, 44-41 to stay undefeated (8-0). Here are three observations from the Crusaders’ win over the Eagles. The 1-2-2 zone frustrated FACS ECS head coach Willie Jenkins was…
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Continue ReadingFACS survived a scare Tuesday night at home, holding off Evangelical Christian School, 44-41 to stay undefeated (8-0).
Here are three observations from the Crusaders’ win over the Eagles.
The 1-2-2 zone frustrated FACS
ECS head coach Willie Jenkins was very upset at his team for not communicating on the defensive end and allowing the Crusaders to make five uncontested 3s in the first quarter, which helped them jump out to a 17-2 lead. The Eagles went into the second quarter down 23-5, then their defense – a 1-2-2 zone – stepped up. FACS had turnovers and senior big man Dietrick Pennington’s presence in the paint opened up scoring opportunities for ECS.
Once the Eagles jumped into their funky 1-2-2 zone, they stayed in it for the remainder of the game. It took away a lot of corner 3-point attempts the Crusaders love to take. The zone also took away Josh Ward’s ability to penetrate.
Now, there were a handful of times junior guards Kobe Wilkes and Corey Savage had a split second to attempt a 3, but neither guard was ready to shoot. ECS’s defense – along with Pennington’s presence – were the two main reasons the Eagles were within striking distance in the second half.
Down the stretch, ECS missed free throws, had costly turnovers and fouled at the wrong time. Other than that, the Eagles were on brink of on stealing a game on the road that, at one point, looked out of reach.
ECS had its chances
This is a continuation from the first observation.
The Eagles were within two (29-27) in the third quarter, but they allowed Ward to find Savage cutting straight down the middle for an uncontested floater. Senior guard Kameron Jones was right there, but he had his back turned as the pass was coming to Savage.
In the final four minutes of the game, ECS turned an eight-point deficit into a four-point deficit. During the Eagles’ last scary scoring surge, FACS had four turnovers. Mason Shropshire made two trips to the free throw line, missing two on his first trip that would come back to hunt ECS.
Shropshire made the next two, then Jones scored on two-straight possessions to get within 39-37. After Jones made two foul shots, the Eagles were down 40-39.
Junior Sylvester Ford committed a foul, which put the Crusaders at the line. Ward missed both of his attempts and somehow, junior forward Daniel Egbuniwe came away with the rebound.
From there, ECS had to foul.
Savage and Wilkes made both of free throws to ice the game.
The Eagles had their chance. Their 1-2-2 zone was working. But Jones missed an easy shot in the paint in the second half. Shropshire missed an easy one, too. The Marquette commit led his team with 20 points. Shropshire added 13.
I bet Jenkins and his team wish they could have a couple of possessions back.
Daniel Egbuniwe Daniel Egbuniwe 6'6" | SF FACS | 2022 State TN made the play of the game
Egbuniwe scored only three points, but his rebound off of Ward’s second missed free throw saved FACS and gave it a second chance to put the game away for good. Before the rebound, Egbuniwe – from the middle of ECS’s 1-2-2 zone – made a great pass to a cutting TJ Thomas from the baseline to start the fourth quarter, which gave the Crusaders a 35-29 lead to start the final quarter.
Ward led ECS with 16 points. Savage had 10.