HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The William Carey Men's Basketball Team snapped a three-game skid with a 73-71 victory over Faulkner University Thursday night at Clinton Gym.
 
"This was a big win for us over a really good team," said Head Coach Steve Knight. "I thought we made some nice basketball plays throughout the game. It was an extremely competitive game, and it is nice to get a win after dropping our last three, all tough games."
 
A steal by Makeem Roberts led to the first points of the night for Carey, as he played the ball ahead to Dylan Brumfield for the easy layup. Brumfield followed up the layup with a three pointer and Ankerion Gross made it an eight-point lead with a three of his own with sixteen minutes remaining.
 
Over the next ten minutes Carey maintained the lead, leading by as many as 13 at 31-18 with six minutes left in the half. However, over the final minutes the Crusader offense struggled allowing the Eagles to close the gap to four at 39-35 at the break.
 
Coming out of the break, both teams traded shots but with 17 minutes left the Carey offense again hit a cold spell but maintained the lead in large part going six for six from the free throw line. During the cold spell though Faulkner was able to cut the cut the deficit to 51-50 with 11 minutes to play.
 
A Jamar Jenkins three pointer jump started the Carey offense again, as they went on a 12-4 over a three-minute span to make it 63-54. However, Faulkner countered with nine straight points to tie the game with under five minutes remaining.
 
Randarius Hughes and Brumfield broke the run by the Eagles with four straight points but back-to-back three pointers by Jonathan Garcia put Faulkner in front 69-67 with under two minutes to play. Cam Brown answered for the Crusaders with a three pointer to put Carey back in front. Brown followed with a pair of free throws to make it 72-69 with twenty seconds left.
 
A Jordan Johnson jumper got the Eagles back within one and on Carey's next possession Brumfield was fouled sending him to the free throw line to potentially make it a three-point game again with ten seconds remaining. Brumfield though only converted one of the two attempts leaving Faulkner one last chance at victory or to force overtime. The Crusader defense was up to the challenge though, as they forced the potential game winner to miss its mark to preserve the win.
 
Dylan Brumfield led the offense with 18 points and seven assists. Ashton Campbell finished with 15 points while Cam Brown added 14 points.
 
Carey is back in action Saturday, December 7, as they head to New Orleans, La. to take on Southern University in non-conference action. Play is set to begin at 4:00 pm at Clinton Gym.