Friends Athletics
Levi Convirs, Sports Information Director
LAWRENCE – The Friends University Falcons took charge early and cruised to a 76-63 victory over the Central Methodist University Eagles tonight at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kan.
The Falcons were dominant from the outset and took a 21-8 lead on a three by Grant Bugbee (SO/Wichita, Kan. ) at the 9:10 mark of the first half.
Five straight points from Jun Murdock (FR/Wichita, Kan. ) stretched the lead to 44-17 before buckets by Tate Vang (JR/Wichita, Kan. ) and Zion Fralin (JR/Wichita, Kan. ) twice staked the Falcons to their biggest edge of the half at 32 points.
The Falcons carried a 51-21 bulge into the break.
The largest lead of the night for the Falcons came on two free throws by Davonte Pack(JR/Sumter, SC) that made it 66-33 with 9:08 remaining.
Still trailing by 30, the Eagles went on a 23-4 run over a late four-minute stretch to shave the lead down to 11.
James Conley (SR/Derby, Kan. ) finished the game with two free throws to give him a game-high 19 points for the Falcons (1-3).
Conley and Murdock each had three steals, while Fralin scored 18 on 8-of-13 shooting from the field. Murdock also chipped in with nine points.
Kyle McDermed led CMU (1-2) with 14 points and Josh Robinson scored 12.
The Falcons outrebounded the Eagles by a slim margin of 34-33 overall, but had a 10-5 edge on the offensive glass along with a 32-18 advantage in points in the paint.
Next up is the KCAC opener for the Falcons on Wednesday night against Sterling College. Tip-off is set for 8 pm inside the Garvey Center.