Florida Memorial MBB Set To Play Two Games In Faulkner Classic

AT A GLANCE
FMU Lions (1-1) at Middle Georgia State University Knights (1-1)
FMU Lions at Faulkner University Eagles (0-0)
When: Friday-Saturday, November 5-6, 2021
Where: Faulkner University, Montgomery, Ala. | Tine W. Davis Gymnasium
Tip-off: Friday – 4 p.m. | Saturday – 8 p.m.
Last Meeting: vs. Middle Georgia – Nov. 1, 2019, Loss 83-92
vs. Faulkner – Nov. 28, 2020, Loss 71-84
Live Stream: Link
Live Stats: vs. Middle Georgia (Link) | vs. Faulkner (Link)

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Florida Memorial University's men's basketball team will continue its road trip through The Cotton State this weekend as it will play two games in two days as a part of the Jimmy Faulkner Classic beginning Friday at Faulkner University's Tine W. Davis Gymnasium.

The Lions will take on Middle Georgia State University Friday afternoon (4 p.m. EDT) and faceoff against tournament host Faulkner University Saturday night in the tournament's nightcap finale Saturday (Nov. 6) night at 8 p.m.

FMU (1-1) rolls into Montgomery, Alabama having been in Talladega, Alabama earlier this week, having squared off against No. 9 Talladega College. The Lions had a tough outing against the nationally-ranked Tornadoes, suffering through a cold shooting night as they ultimately fell 86-56.

Florida Memorial head coach Ansar Al-Ameen didn't get the same offensive output from his revamped backcourt of Anfernee King, Corey Benton, and Carington Campbell as he did in the team's season-opening game against University of Fort Lauderdale.

As FMU looks to rebound and turn avoid its first losing streak of the season, it will be taking on a pair of solid opponents; two of which the Lions haven't had much success against historically.

Middle Georgia (1-1) also comes into the tournament hungry for a victory since it dropped a tough overtime game against FMU's Sun Conference cohort Thomas University this past Tuesday. The Knights have a young team this season – with no seniors listed on the roster – and play an up-tempo brand of basketball to mitigate against the team's lack of interior size.

Faulkner has routinely been a strong NAIA basketball program recently, winning 20 more games in each of the past three seasons while reaching the NAIA National Tournament this past season. The Eagles returned two of its four top scorers from this past season in Jordan Hamlette and Trace Hill and brought in a pair of big-bodied centers in 6-foot-9 Cheikh Ndiaye and 6-foot-10 Jamel Cleveland.

Success for the Lions over the weekend will mean that they receive strong play from its guards, but more importantly, it will also mean that senior forward Cheikh Kebe gave the team tangible contributions on both ends of the floor. The 6-foot-9 senior has the ability to be a matchup nightmare for opposing teams as he's skilled enough to play on the perimeter and more than athletic enough to finish above the rim against a contest.

If Kebe struggles, the onus will be on Jacobi Gordon, Brent Holcombe, and Devin Ramsey to provide the team with frontcourt production.

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Instagram: @GoFMULions/@FMU_MBB | Twitter: @GoFMULions | YouTube: Official FMU Lions

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