FACS defeats Evangelical Christian in OT to reach first DII-A boys basketball championship

Tom Kreager
Memphis Commercial Appeal

NASHVILLE – First Assembly Christian School will make history Saturday.

The Crusaders just needed an extra four minutes to do it.

FACS defeated Evangelical Christian 48-42 in overtime Thursday night in a Division II-A boys semifinal at Lipscomb's Allen Arena to clinch a spot in Saturday's final. It marks the program's first trip to the championship game in two state tournament appearances. 

It also marked the last of three Division II-A semifinal games that went overtime on the opening day of the DII state tournament.

"I'm glad we went to overtime," FACS coach D'Marius Wilkes said. "They had the ball with a chance to score (in regulation). And they didn't score.

"I was praying for overtime."

First Assembly Christian School's Timothy Thomas (3) drives past Evangelical Christian School's Dominic Brown (20) on Thursday, March 5, 2020, during the TSSAA Division II State Basketball Championship semifinal at Lipscomb University's Allen Arena in Nashville.

FACS is 4-0 this season in overtime games, which includes a win over ECS earlier this season.

"We're pretty good in overtime," Wilkes said.

FACS (28-3) plays Lausanne (29-6) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in the TSSAA's Division II-A boys basketball state championship at Allen Arena. Lausanne reached the final with a 63-55 overtime win over defending state champion Knoxville Webb.

FACS defeated Lausanne 53-51 on Feb. 22 in the DII-A West Region championship game in their only meeting. FACS enters the championship game on a 17-game win streak.

Wilkes said the Crusaders will play aggressive and not be afraid to challenge Lausanne 7-footer Moussa Cisse, who is the No. 8-ranked college basketball prospect in the country for the Class of 2021.

"I'm just not going to dribble the ball out if I'm wide open and he's behind me," said FACS 6-6 forward Daniel Egbuniwe, who had 18 points and eight rebounds in the win. "That doesn't make sense to me. 

"I'm going to at least attempt it."

Evangelical Christian School's Kameron Jones (3) passes the ball while being pressured on the sideline by First Assembly Christian School's Kobe Wilkes (1) on Thursday, March 5, 2020, during the TSSAA Division II State Basketball Championship semifinal at Lipscomb University's Allen Arena in Nashville.

Wilkes added, "We're going to attack them. I told them if they are wide open shoot, go in there and try to dunk it.

"If he blocks it, he blocks it. We'll get back or get the rebound. But we're going to go at him."

FACS' Timothy Thomas added 11 points.

Haddon Burgess led ECS with 16 points. Teammate Dominic Brown added 12.

Wilkes, who is in his 11th season at FACS, said he will cherish this championship game experience.

"FACS basketball, when I first got here, was who everybody called to play," Wilkes said. "Everybody wanted to play us. To be here now, it's a good feeling for the school."

Reach Tom Kreager at tkreager@gannett.com or on Twitter @Kreager.