LEAD

WATERTOWN, Wis. -- Thanks to career-high performances from Stephen Wilkerson and Zeke Steuerwald, the Sabercats opened their home games in the best way possible this afternoon.

With a 65-64 victory over Faith Baptist Bible College, the Sabercats marked their second straight win and look to make it three straight heading into Christmas break.

OVERVIEW

• Result: Maranatha 65-64 Faith Baptist
• Venue: Maranatha Baptist University
• Location: Watertown, Wis.
• Attendance: 203
• Records: MBU (2-4), FBBC (3-4)

STORY

Overall, it wasn't the cleanest performance for Maranatha, but they accomplished their main goal of winning the game at the end of the day. Steuerwald and Wilkerson were generating the lion's share of the offense with a respective 14 and 10 points in the first half, and Aaron Sanders and Tyler Reid chipped in four points apiece. Sanders kept the Eagles guessing, as the quick sophomore notched four assists in the first half alone.

But if the Sabercats were expecting a comfortable win like they had last year, the Eagles had other ideas. Faith out-rebounded Maranatha in the first half and punished some Sabercat fouls with nine points from the line. Going into the halftime break, the Sabercats led by just three points (36-33).

Wilkerson kept his momentum going, but the Eagles gained more as a team, taking the lead in the early stages of the second half. The second half was riveting from start to finish, as the lead was never more than six points - a two-possession game. Wilkerson's 14-point performance in the second half kept the Sabercats within constant striking distance of the transient lead, and in the final possessions, Caleb Moultrie and Wilkerson both made key layups to keep the Eagles just out of reach.

When it was all said and done, the Sabercats had earned the win - it may not have been in the way they wanted or expected, but it marks their second straight win nonetheless, and they will look to head into Christmas Break on a three-win streak. 

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MBU Starters: 2- Ball, 3- Mayhak, 4- Steuerwald 5- Sanders, 23- Wilkerson

SOUND BITE

"Just want to give Coach Brian Fincham credit for the way he prepared his team today," said Coach Joel Borchardt. "They played well and played aggressively, and they showed us some things we need to get better at. We showed some good things tonight, and it doesn't feel quite like a win because of how we feel like we should have played. But we can definitely get better and grow from this experience."

STATS

• Wilkerson: 24 PTS (career-high), 7 REB
• Steuerwald: 17 PTS (tied-career-high), 6 R
• Sanders: 12 PTS, 7 REB, 6 AST
• Caleb Moultrie: 6 PTS, 3 REB, 2 AST
• Last year: The Sabercats won 90-54 at Faith last year
• Series: Maranatha now leads the all-time series 9-1

OPPONENTS

• Faith Baptist competes with Maranatha for the NCCAA North Region
• Faith Baptist finished the season last year with a 6-17 record
• Faith Baptist recently put up 107 points against Trinity Bible

NEXT

The Sabercats will travel to Martin Luther College next Saturday for a 3:00 p.m. tip. Follow at mbusabercats.com/schedule.