Pensacola, FL — On Friday night, the Eagles secured an 86-78 victory in a crucial conference matchup against Johnson University Florida. Jared McCrillis finished with a double-double in the contest after scoring 15 points and adding 10 rebounds.

In the 1st half of last night's game against Johnson University Florida, John Clay opened the scoring with a long three pointer that gave the Eagles an early advantage. Guard Ian Johnson quickly stepped up for the Eagles in the early minutes of the game, scoring 6 points. The Eagles were able to go on a quick 12-6 run to open up an advantage on the visiting Suns. Despite the quick start, the Suns were able to answer back. Field goals by Josh Grover and Marquis Smith helped the Suns cut into the Eagles lead.

A back and forth battle ensued in the 1st half. The Suns were able to regain the lead with 11:36 remaining in the half, but the Eagles would quickly answer. The teams would trade punches over the remaining minutes of the 1st half. With 10 minutes left on the clock, a three pointer by senior guard Deont'e Hallums gave the Eagles the lead and brought the fans to their feet. The Eagles would not look back. Several key buckets down the stretch by a trio of Eagles – John Clay, Dakota Pratt, and Jared McCrillis – would help the Eagles widen their lead to as many as 10 points. The Eagles would give up a couple of easy baskets to the Suns in the waning minutes of the 1st half, but the team would head to the locker room leading 44-36.

The 1st half of action saw the Eagles shoot 50% from the floor and 60% from behind the three-point line. Ian Johnson led the team in scoring in the 1st half with 14 points. He also added 4 rebounds to pace the Eagles. At the half, Head Coach Mark Goetsch said, "We competed out their tonight. We struggled with some turnovers in the 1st half, but were able to weather the storm against a team that forces a lot of turnovers. These guys played really hard in the half."

The 2nd half saw the Eagles continue to hang onto the lead that they had built before halftime. The Eagles saw multiple contributions from their starters early on in the 2nd half, but it was a big three pointer by Tyler Rose that would spark the Eagles. The Suns slowly began to chip away at the Eagles lead, cutting their deficit to just 3 points with 10 minutes remaining. The Eagles quickly answered and grew the lead back up to 11 points after two free throws by Jared McCrillis. Despite a late charge by the Suns, the Eagles were able to hold on and secured a well-deserved 86-78 conference victory.

In the game, the Eagles shot 45% from the floor and 42% from behind the three-point line. The Eagles out-rebounded the Suns 54-38 and were able to force the Suns to commit 15 turnovers while holding them to just 36% shooting. Coach Goetsch was asked about his team's defensive performance after the game. He responded, "Our defensive effort was great tonight. It was about as good as we've had all year. Our point guards John [Clay], James [Shodimu], and Tyler [Rose] really did a great job of applying pressure. We competed on the three-ball line tonight and were able to hold Johnson down. We added some length coming into the 2nd half and that has made a huge difference."

The Eagles saw four players – Johnson (16), McCrillis (15), Hallums (11), and Pratt (11) – finish with double-digit scoring. Jared McCrillis finished the night with a double-double after grabbing 10 rebounds to go along with his 15 points. Coach Goetsch was happy to see the performance from his junior forward. He said, "J-mac [Jared McCrillis] has been a huge player for us for three years now. Having some of the guys come back that he is comfortable with has really helped his game. He had a really solid performance."

With the victory, the Eagles helped move their conference record to 2-4 with a big matchup upcoming against Trinity Baptist College on Saturday in the Arlin R. Horton Sports Center Arena at 7:30 p.m.