Pensacola, FL — Senior guard Marlon Gardner, who scored 16 points in the ball game, helped lead the Eagles to a 97-76 victory on Senior Night over Toccoa Falls College. With the win, the team moved to 4-6 in conference play with the upcoming regional tournament looming.

"It was fun to watch Marlon have a great night tonight." Head Coach Mark Goetsch continued, "Marlon has put in so many hours over the past couple of years. It was great to see him have success tonight on Senior night!"

The Eagles controlled the ball from the tip-off and did not look back against Toccoa Falls College. Marlon Gardner led the way in the opening moments of the 1st half, scoring eight of his 16 points in the first five minutes of the ball game. Due in part to Gardner's play, the Eagles jumped out to an early 15-6 lead. The visiting Screaming Eagles began to battle their way back into the game behind the play of Kevin Cave and Seth Stanley, who combined for 22 points in the opening half.

With eight minutes remaining in the 1st half, the Eagles stretched their advantage to 15 points on a made lay-up by junior forward Andrew Thomas, who would finish the game with 15 points. Despite the large lead, Toccoa Falls would continue to hang around in the game. A three-pointer by Seth Stanley cut the Eagles lead to just 6 points with 36 seconds remaining in the 1st half. The Eagles would fail to score again in the half and headed to the locker room leading 52-46.

 "Our guys were really concerned at halftime about the performances of Seth Stanley and Kevin Cave," Head Coach Mark Goetsch said after the game. "We implored our guys to trust the game plan that we had put together."

Entering the 2nd half of play, the Eagles hoped to build on their early advantage. The Eagles used an 18-5 run to blow the game open at the beginning of the 2nd half. The Eagles, who had 21 assists in the ball game, were able to find the open shooter consistently in the 2nd half.

"We were unselfish as a team tonight." Head Coach Mark Goetsch continued, "We didn't overuse our three-ball and made some smart decisions as a team."

Freshman John Clay played a huge role in the 2nd half, scoring 7 points in the period. It was the guard play–spearheaded by Hallums, Rose, Clay, and Shodimu–that would ultimately propel the Eagles to victory. The team went on to out-score Toccoa Falls College 48-20 in the paint. The Eagles would go on to win the ball game 97-76 over Toccoa Falls College.

"We took advantage of dribble-drive early on tonight," Coach Goetsch said after the game. "When we came out in the 2nd half, we were really able to assert ourselves in the paint which opened up our shooters. It was a great offensive performance all the way around."

Senior Marlon Gardner led the Eagles with 16 points on Senior Night. The Eagles received double-digit scoring efforts from three players – Gardner (16), Thomas (15), Pratt (14). The team's next game will be on Thursday, February 22 in the 1st round of the NCCAA South Region tournament hosted on the campus of Pensacola Christian College.