LAKE WALES, Fla. – Behind 54 points from Eddie Delegal and Antonio Ansley, No. 25 Warner University men's basketball team defeated Florida College 78-69 on Tuesday night.  The Royals' duo was a combined 17-for-33 from the field and 16-of-18 from the free throw line in the victory.  The Royals improve to 2-0 with the victory heading into Homecoming Weekend.

It was a fight from the very beginning as the two sides exchanged the lead and battled to three tie scores in the opening half.  Warner had the edge early thanks to the hot shooting of Antonio Ansley.  Ansley scored 10 of Warner's first 13 points by himself and had the Royals out in front 13-11 at the first media timeout.

Coming out of the timeout the Falcons came to life while the Royals went cold.  The Falcons went on a 14-3 run and held a 25-16 lead with 7:38 to go in the first half.  The Royals responded however, closing the half on a 14-2 run of their own to take a 30-27 lead into halftime.

Ansley's hot start produced 17 points for the Royals in just 16 minutes of action.  Delegal had seven points at halftime and one rebound.

The second half was just as back and forth as the first with four lead changes and three tie scores for both teams.   At the second media timeout, the Falcons were back in front 51-46 and still led with 5:50 to go in the game 55-54. 

A quick 8-0 run by the Royals down to the 3:40 mark forced a Florida College timeout.  Delegal gave the Royals their first double-digit lead of the second half with a steal and a dunk at the 2:43 mark to send the crowd into a frenzy.  From there the Royals made eight straight free throws over the final two minutes to ice the game and hold on for the 78-69 victory.

Delegal led all players with 28 points, 21 of which came in the second half.  The junior finished with eight rebounds and five assists as well.  Ansley led the Royals in the first half with 17 points and finished the game with 26.  He was 4-for-7 from behind the arc and a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe.

Jamie Anderson played big minutes in the second half and finished with 11 points and six assists.  Josh Ellis led the bench effort with 10 points and eight rebounds as well.

As a team, the Royals shot 51% from the field and 83.3% from the free throw line. 

On Saturday, Nov. 7, the Royals return to the Turner Athletic Center as they welcome in Edward Waters College as part of Homecoming 2015.  The Royals and Tigers will tip-off at 7:30 p.m.


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