Pensacola, FL — Dakota Pratt sent the Eagles faithful home happy after he buried a 15-footer with 3.2 seconds remaining to give the Eagles a 64-63 victory over conference rival Trinity Baptist College. Along with his winning shot, Dakota Pratt added 21 points and 10 rebounds in the victory.

The Eagles jumped out to an early 8-4 lead in the opening minutes of last night's conference game against Trinity Baptist College. Deont'e Hallums hit a three-pointer from deep to give the Eagles a 4-point lead. Trinity Baptist College quickly pounced on several early mistakes by the Eagles. Led by Marquel Perry, the visiting Eagles stretched their lead to as many as 12 in the opening 20 minutes of action. Marquel Perry and Ethan Payne each added 5 points for Trinity Baptist College in the opening period.

Deep in the 1st half, the Eagles began to mount a comeback. The Eagles point guards, Tyler Rose and John Clay, added several key buckets down the stretch. Layups by Dakota Pratt and Andrew Thomas helped the Eagles cut the deficit to just 8 points heading into halftime. At the half, Trinity Baptist led the Eagles 32-24 in what was largely a defensive battle.

At the half, Head Coach Mark Goetsch told his guys to keep fighting. He said, "We had a couple of segments where we turned the ball over back-to-back. We were out-rebounded at the half. We came out with low energy, but it was huge for us to keep it close."

Entering the 2nd half of action, the Eagles looked to regain the momentum in the game. Seven points in the opening 5 minutes of the half by Dakota Pratt helped the Eagles cut into the deficit. With 13 minutes remaining, an and-one opportunity by Ian Johnson gave the Eagles a much needed energy boost and brought the fans to their feet. Ian calmly sank the free throw to bring the Eagles to within 5 points.

A three-pointer by Deont'e Hallums, who had just entered the game, brought the Eagles within 2 points with 10 minutes remaining. Seth Crane quickly added a layup to tie the ball game up at 46. A back and forth battled ensued throughout the remaining 10 minutes of the contest. The Eagles who had trailed for most of the game were able to regain the lead briefly on a Jared McCrillis field goal. Despite regaining the lead, Trinity Baptist College quickly answered back with 5 points to regain the advantage.

With 2:30 seconds remaining in the ball game, the Eagles would shut down Trinity Baptist College for good. The Eagles defensive did not give up a single basket in the final 2:30 of the ball game. With 17 seconds remaining, a huge three-pointer by John Clay brought the Eagles to within 1 point. The Eagles fouled Marquel Perry who missed the front end of the one-and-one opportunity. The Eagles advanced the ball down the court before calling a timeout.

Coming out of the timeout, the Eagles hoped to give the ball to Andrew Thomas for the game-winning layup, but a great play by a Trinity Baptist defender closed off the lane. Andrew Thomas tossed the ball to Dakota Pratt who buried the game winner from 15 feet with 3.2 seconds left on the clock. Asked after the game about the play, Coach Goetsch responded, "I wanted Dakota to space the floor and pull the big man out from under the basket. Dakota [Pratt] did the opposite and pushed his guy under the basket. Andrew [Thomas] made a great read and gave it to Dakota on the wing. That was a huge shot by Dakota!"

Trinity Baptist would miss a last ditch layup opportunity. The Eagles secured a 64-63 victory after trailing for most of the game. Dakota Pratt who hit perhaps the biggest shot of his life finished the game with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Pratt and Deont'e Hallums each finished in double-digits while Ian Johnson and Seth Crane each added 9 points of their own. The Eagles, who were out-rebounded by 7 in the 1st half, would go on to out-rebound Trinity Baptist College 47-36. Against perhaps one of the best defenses in the South Region, the Eagles turned the ball over just 13 times in the victory.

With the victory, the Eagles move to 3-4 in conference play with a huge matchup against Bob Jones University looming. The Eagles find themselves riding a season-long two game winning streak. The team will hit the court next against Concordia College (AL.) on Tuesday night as they prepare for their big matchups next weekend against Piedmont International University and Bob Jones University.