Rome, Ga. - Adam Okechukwu scored a career-high 25 points to help fifth-seeded Faulkner University withstand a furious rally from Emmanuel College and score a 79-72 victory over the No. 4-seed Lions in the final quarterfinal contest of the Southern States Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championships at The Forum in Rome, Ga., on Thursday night.

The win propels the Eagles, now 18-12 on the year, into an 8 p.m. semifinal tilt with top-seed Lee University on Friday evening. The Flames cruised past No. 8-seed Brewton-Parker College by a count of 66-44 earlier in the day.

Emmanuel bows out of the tournament having compiled a 21-10 overall mark.

What appeared to be a runaway victory for the Eagles quickly turned into a nail-biter in the waning moments, as the Lions survived cold shooting throughout much of the game to rally from a deficit that climbed as high as 18 points, 51-33, with 13:11 left in the game.

Lions' All-SSAC guard Tedrick Hudson, who came into the game averaging just over 19 points per game, shook off a chilly first half during which he went 1-of-8 from the floor to score 17 of his team-high 19 points in the second frame.

Hudson and teammate Graham Maxwell canned back-to-back threes to trim Faulkner's lead to eight, 51-43, with 10:46 left, while another Hudson triple followed by a Hudson assist on a second Maxwell three brought Emmanuel to within 62-57 with 5:54 to play.

The Lions continued to nip at the Eagles' wings and finally got to within one possession on an Avery Morris three-point play that made the score 71-70 in favor of Faulkner with 1:01 showing on the clock.

But Faulkner got several key stops in the final minute and Randell Moore and De Hereford combined to go 5-for-6 from the foul line down the stretch as the Eagles prevailed, setting up an enticing match up with the SSAC's top squad tomorrow night.

Early, it was Okechukwu that spurred the Faulkner attack.

Okechukwu was simply on fire in the opening 20 minutes, hitting 7-of-8 from the floor, including 2-for-3 from beyond the arc, on his way to 18 first half tallies. He finished 10-of-12 for the game and also added two steals.

The Eagles led by 13 at the half with regular offensive stalwarts Moore and Chris Palmore combining for just seven points on seven total shots. Faulkner shot a blistering 60 percent in the first half while holding Emmanuel to a frigid 24.3 percent.

Palmore picked it up in the second half, however, scoring 13 of his 14 after halftime. He was joined in double figures by Moore, who had 13 points in addition to seven rebounds and three blocks, and Drew Boland, who chipped in with 11.

Maxwell contributed 16 points for the Lions, who were the only lower seed to suffer defeat on the tournament's opening day. Chase Procuro added 10 points and 10 rebounds and was a big reason that Emmanuel won the battle of the boards, 47-36, while grabbing an incredible 29 offensive caroms.