Eagles Defeated by Falcons in Season Finale

WICHITA, Kan. – After a razor-thin first half, Friends pulled away from Avila in the second half on Saturday afternoon in Wichita, bringing the 2023-24 Avila men's basketball (4-20, 3-19 KCAC) season to a close with an 80-54 defeat.

Avila has handled Friends in the recent all-time history between the two bird squads, but the Falcons were finally able to ground the Eagles this season, winning both games. Neither of these teams will be in the KCAC Tournament next week, but Friends played like a motivated team in the second half on the way to what became a convincing win.

The Eagles were right there with the Falcons for the entire first half: Friends' lead at the halftime break was just 35-33, but the home team began to take off once the second half began. Friends had a decided edge in field goal shooting, free throw shooting, and rebounding, which helped them race out to a big lead as the second half wore on, ending the Eagles' hopes of closing out the regular season with one final win.

KJ Spiller led all players with 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting along with seven rebounds, while Tim Barbieri had 11 and eight. James Ross III led the Eagles with 13 points, and Ayris Abdelnassar scored 12 in just 14 minutes off the bench.

With this, a building year under new head coach Tyler Bredehoeft comes to a close. Team newcomers Abdelnassar and Shayne Scruggs along with three-year Eagle Jared Larson will all depart as seniors, and others are likely to follow due to standard roster attrition. But Bredehoeft and his staff are building for the future, and will work to put together their own pieces and create what likely will be a new-looking team again next year. With some of those pieces and the coaches in place, the future indeed looks brighter for Avila men's basketball going into the fall of 2024.