Patriot men fall to falcons
The Montevallo Falcons proved too be to tough for the FMU Patriots to handle as the Falcons routed the Patriots 74-49 inside Smith University Center on Thursday Jan 5.
The Patriots put up a fight in the beginning knotting the game up at 20-20 after an 8-0 run that was capped off by two free throws from junior Judah Alexander. FMU shot only 1-for-11 in the final six minutes of the half while the Falcons went on a 21-2 run to end the first half. The Patriots entered the intermission trailing Montevallo 41-22.
The answer for the Patriots first half struggles seemed like a simple one to junior accounting major Keevius Latimore.
“They didn’t play enough defense,” Latimore said. “They kept getting caught up in shooting outside shots instead of trying to create for each other.”
The Patriots came pressing out of the locker room, and the aggressive defense paid off as they trimmed the lead to 19 and forced the Falcons to remain scoreless for the first three minutes and 41 seconds of the first half. The Patriots forced turnovers, but plagued by poor shooting. Once the Falcons found the basket in the second half, they had no intentions of taking their foot off the gas.
The bright spot for the Patriots came from junior forward Warren Specht who came off the bench and tallied 19 points and six rebounds. Junior guard Detrek Browning led the team in the defensive category of steals, forcing five Montevallo turnovers. He also helped out on the offensive side of the ball with 10 points. Overall the Patriots only shot 28.6 percent from the field and only made two out of their 22 attempts from beyond the arc.
“It was just really upsetting,” Bria Welch, visiting spectator, said. “I felt like the refs were playing games with the Patriots. The other team was being really aggressive and the Patriots are doing a lot of falling. I didn’t like it. We need to play some defense. Some big boy defense.”
The Falcons were led by senior forward Javonte Douglas who scored 25 points and racked up 13 boards for the double double. He was on the receiving end of multiple alley oops, and the Patriot defense struggled trying to stop the 6-8 forward. He entered the game second in the PBC scoring race with Browning just behind him in third.
“Right now, he’s the best player out here,” Latimore said. “It’s looking kind of ugly.”
With the win, the Falcons sit at 9-1 after the conference win earned votes to be in the national top 25, although they are still on the outside looking in. The Patriots fall to a 4-7 record and lose their third straight Peach Belt game.