LAKE WALES, Fla. – Despite a strong second-half rally by Warner, Florida National University was able to hold on and steal a game from the Royals in the TAC, walking away victorious after an 87-82 finish.
Warner lead in almost all offensive categories the entire game but could not match the amount of shot attempts that FNU was putting up because of numerous turnovers by the Royals. At the end of the first half the Royals had 10 turnovers and would go on to finish the game with 18, very uncharacteristic for the normally well-disciplined team.
Although Warner was outshooting the Conquistadors 52% to 48% from the field and 40% to 30% from behind the arc, FNU lead at the half 43-26.
With 16:37 left in the second half the Royals trailed the conquistadors by 12 points, 50-38. Over the next eight minutes Warner erased the 12-point deficit and tied the game 61-61 with 8:56 left to go.
The game was again tied 64-64 with 7:52 left in the game, but after that Florida National went on a 10-3 run and lead 74-67 with under 5 minutes remaining. With 1:12 remaining in the game the Royals only trailed FNU by 3, 81-78, but were unable to overcome the deficit and fell to the Conquistadors 87-82.
Despite having four different players score in double digits, the Royals were not themselves tonight, committing 18 turnovers and only grabbing 2 steals. Warner came into the game ranking #1 in the NAIA in turnover margin 8.059 and #3 in the NAIA in steals per game with 12.765.
Bart Schild nearly earned himself a double-double tonight, scoring 9 points and grabbing 9 rebounds.
