MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Faulkner (Ala.) held off Thomas, 70-62, on Friday evening, the first day of the Veteran's Day Classic, inside Tine Davis Gymnasium. The Night Hawks fall to 1-1 this season against NAIA Division I teams and face Talladega (Ala.) on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET to conclude the tournament.

"We started the game strong but didn't finish," Green and White coach Brent Crews said. "We've got to finish games, especially against really good teams, if we want to achieve our goals this season."

Thomas (3-1) scored the first nine points Friday and opened the game on an 11-2 run. Johnnel Ginnie scored seven-straight Night Hawk points to give his team a 12-4 edge at the 13:03 mark of the first half.

Crews' squad led by 10 twice in the first 20 minutes, the latter coming with 2:52 left following an Ivan Tomic jumper, but Faulkner (4-0) closed the period on a 9-2 run and trailed 29-26 at the break.

A Keion Peoples steal and layup followed by a Willie Holloway offensive rebound and putback to open the second half stretched Thomas' advantage back to seven, but the Eagles countered with an 11-4 spurt, including eight-straight points by Earvin Perroni, in a 2:42 span to tie the affair for the first time at 37 with 16:07 to play. 

Four ties and seven lead changes would ensue, but with the game knotted at 57 with 5:14 to go, Faulkner scored six-straight points to grab the upper hand for good. 

Rene Scott finished with 21 points and seven rebounds for the Eagles. Perroni followed up with 11 points, while Logan Jozwiak, Sean Edwards and Marquis Grays each added eight. Jozwiak also had nine rebounds. Grays had eight of his team's 17 bench points.

Holloway and Ginnie tallied 12 points apiece. Holloway was 6-of-7 shooting and grabbed four offensive rebounds, while Ginnie pulled down six boards. Jerodd Blount recorded nine of the Night Hawks' 17 points off the bench, while Javoris Cooks added eight. Jalen Bonds came up with three of the team's 10 steals. 

Faulkner shot just 39.3 percent (22-of-56) from the floor but hit 50 percent (11-of-22) from beyond the arc, including 8-of-13 in the final 20 minutes. The Eagles were 15-of-24 from the free throw line.

Thomas shot 38.3 percent (23-of-60) from the field and 8-of-12 from the charity stripe. The Green and White turned 19 Faulkner turnovers into 22 points.