LBWCC’s men’s basketball team improved to 2-0 in ACCC South after a thrilling 83-77 victory over Faulkner State on Monday night at home.

The Saints strutted out to an early 7-0 lead to start the first half, and held a single-digit advantage at halftime. The Sun Chiefs bounced back early in the second 20 minutes with a 15-0 run, but LBW held on by playing good defense and getting some needed buckets down the stretch for the win.

In spite of the win, Saints coach Ricky Knight said the players need to take care of the ball better.

“We’ve got to have players on the team who can make better decisions,” Knight said.

FSCC cut the Saints’ lead to 13-10 after LBW got off to its 7-0 running start.

At the 9:01 mark of the first half, Saints guard Lamarcus Frazier hit a 3-pointer to put his team ahead 25-20.

About three minutes later, the Sun Chiefs took a timeout to regroup and the Saints held them again by playing good defense at the bucket.

LBW led 40-29 with 1:41 left in the first half, and took a 43-32 lead into halftime.

With a bit of rest from a strong first half, the Saints came out firing from the start of the final 20 minutes.

Sophomore guard De’Aundre Smith got a runner to get things going for LBWCC.

A little later, sophomore guard Gaeton Sarrazin got an under and around layup at the basket to push the lead to 47-34. Smith then got a floater to go and LBWCC led 49-34.

The Saints ended their 12-3 run on freshman forward Victor Benson’s jumper to put the lead at 53-35.

FSCC called a timeout at the 15:47 mark of the second half and its 15-0 run started immediately after it regrouped.

After the timeout, the Sun Chiefs started playing front zone trap, which caused the Saints trouble as the home team gave away turnovers, which led to easy buckets for FSCC.

FSCC guard Xavier Dortch got a drive to the bucket with 14:43 left to cut the lead to 53-42.

Teammate Deshun Tucker answered Dortch’s drive with a 3-pointer and the Sun Chiefs made their deficit at a manageable eight points.

Dortch got a 3-pointer and later made a steal and passed to Reagan Eubanks, who then got an easy layup to end the run and decrease the Saints’ lead to 53-50.

LBWCC finally took a timeout to regroup and recover, which was a good thing.

Saints freshman guard Troyce Manasse made two foul shots to increase his team’s lead to 55-50 right after the timeout.

Sophomore guard Malcolm Snyder’s 3-pointer and Benson’s jumper and drive to the lain pushed the Saints’ lead to 65-7. Lamarcus Frazier cut it to 10 with a jumper, and Snyder got a 4-0 run by finding the lane and getting a putback with 5:15 to go for a 71-62 advantage.

Manasse led LBW with a double-double 13 points and 14 rebounds, along with 8 assists. Sarrazin had 8 points and 7 rebounds. Benson chipped in 15 points; Snyder had 14 points; and Frazier had 13. Eric McIntosh scored 10 points and had 7 rebounds.

Dortch led FSCC with 22 points. Rafael Adams chipped in 17 points, and Tucker had 13.

Shawntal Byrd and Brittany Moore finished in double figures to help lead the Lady Saints to a 60-47 win over FSCC in the first game of the night on Monday.

Byrd led the team with 19 points, and Moore chipped in 10.

LBWCC held a single-digit lead with more than 15 minutes left in the second half, and pushed ahead 51-33 late.

Destyni Thomas got a drive to the basket off of a pass from fellow teammate, Keirra Holloway for a 36-30 lead.

The Lady Saints got ahead by 12 when Byrd got a jumper to go a few minutes later.

Moore then got a jumper and layup, along with a putback sometime later for a 51-33 advantage.

Thomas had 9 rebounds, and Kamiaya Nalls had 5 assists.

LBWCC led 34-26 at halftime in the women’s game.

The Saints teams travel to play Chattahoochee Valley in Phenix City tomorrow night. Women’s action starts at 5:30 p.m., followed by the men’s at around 7:30.