LAWRENCEVILLE – The Fuqua School basketball team is used to taking an annual trip to Lawrenceville, though their journey is usually a little over a mile further than the Falcons' trip to Brunswick County High School on Tuesday night.

The Falcons held their own for the most part against the two-time defending VHSL Group AA State Champions, but they committed too many turnovers to be a serious threat to the Bulldogs in a 59-36 loss.

“It's hard to win when you make 27 turnovers,” said Fuqua second year head coach Marcus Gregory. “This was good for us. Brunswick is not only fast, but they do a good job of pushing you to play faster than you would like, pushing you into bad decisions.

“This was good for us, because we'll play some similar teams later on in the season. You can't practice against this style, so it's really the best way to prepare.”

Brunswick started slow, but scored eight points in less than a minute on the clock late in the first quarter to take a 14-2 lead with 29.4 seconds left. Then, Fuqua adjusted, and Josh Davis buried a three-pointer with 15 seconds left to start a FS run that included a disallowed three pointer by Davis at the buzzer that would've pulled the Falcons to within six at 14-8.

Fuqua extended its run by scoring the first eight points in the second quarter to pull to within one point at 14-13 with 6:42 left in the half.

Brunswick scored on a number of monstrous dunks on the evening, but Fuqua guard Antonio Gonzalez found a wide open Boris Ngundji cutting across the back door for a slam of his own with 5:20 left in the half to keep the Falcons within a point at 16-15.

Brunswick, which does most of its damage in small spurts, put together a 9-0 run to take a 27-15 lead with 1:53 left. Davis and Davis Cyrus hit back-to-back three pointers to trail 30-21 at the break.

Davis' third three pointer of the night came at the 7:20 mark in the third period to pull FS to within eight points at 32-24, but that was as close as the Falcons would get. Brunswick held Fuqua to only a Carter Cunningham free throw over the balance of the quarter to take a 40-25 lead at the end of the third period.

With Ngundji on the bench in foul trouble, the Falcons were forced to take outside shots, but couldn't hit them consistently enough to close the gap. The veteran-heavy Brunswick team capitalized on the one-dimensional aspect of the Fuqua offense, to pull away for the 24-point victory.

“I thought we may be able to push them a little in the second half, being down only nine with 4:37 left in the third, but they quickly killed that thought,” said Gregory. “That was the difference between an experienced, championship team and one that's trying to be that team.”

Gonzalez led the Falcons with 11 points on the night, while Cyrus added nine. Davis and Cunningham scored six points apiece.

Brunswick was led by Brandon Stith, who had 25 points, while BJ Stith had 19.

The Falcons were 1-5 from the foul line, while Brunswick was an almost automatic 9-11.

“This game can only make us better for later on in the season,” said Gregory. “We have some difficult games on the schedule, and now our guys have the experience of playing a top team.”

The Falcons' road should get a little easier in the short term. They host the Brunswick school they're more familiar with on Friday night at Gilmer Gym.