PENSACOLA, Fla. – ABAC's Stallions split a pair of games last weekend in the Pensacola Christian College Tournament. ABAC opened with a close 68-65 loss against Southeastern Illinois College before defeating Pensacola Christian 60-53.
                In Friday's first game against the Falcons, ABAC led 35-34 at halftime and extended that lead to 10 points with just over 12 minutes left to play on a steal and layup by junior P.J. Mathews to make it 53-43. Southeastern went on a 7-0 run to tighten the game back up. The Falcons cut the lead to two points with 2:52 left to play before T.J. Smith's layup gave ABAC a 62-58 lead.
                The Falcons finally got their first lead of the second half on a Jonathan Harrison dunk with 1:19 left to play. Nate Mobley's layup with 55 seconds left returned the lead to the Stallions but they could not hit another basket while Southeastern hit key free throws in the final minute to secure the win.
                Mobley led ABAC with 16 points and nine rebounds while Matthew Mairena added 13 points, seven rebounds and a team-high four assists. Shooting woes plagued the Stallions as they hit only 2 of 19 3-pointers and 7 of 13 free throws.
                The picture was brighter in Saturday's game against PCC. Tommie Hall's layup with 14:09 left in the first half gave ABAC a 12-10 lead and the Stallions never trailed again. A couple of key 3-pointers by Xavier Boyd and Antwann Brown grew the lead to 21-12 and good defense kept the Eagles off balance.
                Up 42-30 at halftime, ABAC did have to fend off a PCC run in the second half. Chris Foster's jumper gave the Stallions a 54-42 lead with 8:38 left to play before the home team went on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to three points. Eventually, the lead shrunk to two with 3:26 left but this time, ABAC was able to hold on. Bryce Wimberly knocked down some key free throws down the stretch and the Stallion defense held the Eagles scoreless for the final three minutes to seal the win.
                Wimberly led ABAC with 12 points and nine rebounds while Brown added 8 points. The Stallions dominated the boards, outrebounding Pensacola 42-28 as T.J. Smith grabbed nine and Mobley had eight more.
                The game was the first for ABAC against NAIA competition so the Stallions are officially 1-0 on the year. They return home for a Saturday afternoon contest against Beacon College slated to start at 4 p.m. at Gressette Gym.