FARMVILLE – After laboring through a tough half-court battle in the first half, the Prince Edward County High School boys basketball team appeared to be on its way to earning a sweep in the inaugural season series over host Fuqua School on Saturday night in Gilmer Gym.

The Falcons had other plans. Up by four points, the Eagles missed on five straight rebound attempts and FS guard Al Baker buried a long-range three-pointer on the other end to give the Falcons the momentum for good in what turned out to be a 57-49 victory for Fuqua.

Prince Edward, which trailed 27-24 at the half built its largest lead of the night at 32-28 with 3:11 remaining in the third period on a foul shot by Teequan Banks.

A pair of free throws by Josh Davis cut PE's advantage to two points, but the Eagles had an opportunity to quickly get that back on a wide open layup attempt that was missed. PE had five more cracks at the basket before Fuqua finally wrestled away a rebound. Seconds later, Baker buried the three pointer to give FS the lead for good and spark an 11-0 run. Fuqua stretched the rally to 13-2 over the balance of the quarter and held a 41-34 lead going into the fourth.

“That was the big turning point of the game,” said PECHS head coach James Scott. “We missed those six shots and then that three pointer broke out back. We played extremely well in the quarter to that point, but we weren't the same afterward.”

“It was a big lift for us,” said FS head coach Marcus Gregory, who played for Scott at PECHS. “In a matter of seconds, we went from being frustrated that we couldn't get a rebound to a stretch that we didn't do much wrong.”

Fuqua extended its lead to 48-36 with 5:28 remaining on a three-point play by center Boris Ngundji. Ngundji scored nine straight points for Fuqua as the Falcons maintained a double-digit lead into the final minute of the game and hit four of six free throws to keep the Eagles at bay.

“They made some good adjustments from last week's game,” said Scott, whose Eagles forced a quick tempo in their 69-57 victory over the Falcons on January 5 at the PECMS gym. “They got us in a half court and we weren't able to dictate things. They also rebounded much better. When you don't win the battle on the boards, you can't run.”

“Sometimes, I think I get caught up with my tendencies as a player versus the tendencies I should have as a coach,” said Gregory. “Last week we tried to push and run, and that played into their hands. I credit our assistants for helping me keep us from getting ahead of ourselves. Tonight we played smart. Last week, we played stubborn.”

Prince Edward was led in scoring by Amonte Vaughan, who had 12 points and eight rebounds on the evening, while Banks and Cleon Watkins chipped in nine points apiece.

Baker paced the Falcons with a game-high 18 points while Ngundji tallied a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds. Antonio Gonzalez added ten points and Carter Cunningham pulled down eight rebounds.

Prince Edward was scheduled to host Nottoway on Wednesday night, and will travel to Southampton on Friday night in a return to Southside District play.

Fuqua was scheduled to host Southampton Academy on Tuesday night, and will travel to Kenston Forest on Friday before hosing Alliance Christian on Saturday in a non-conference game.