FARMVILLE – The Fuqua School boys basketball team advanced to the VISBA Division III Tournament quarterfinal round with a 76-65 victory over Banner Christian on Tuesday night at Gilmer Gymnasium, and was eliminated by No. 1 seed Carlisle School 93-42 on Wednesday night in Martinsville.

The Falcons (19-10), who completed one of the more successful campaigns in recent memory, ended their season in the VISBA quarterfinals for the second straight year.

Against a Banner Christian team that relies heavily on the three-point shot on Tuesday night, the Falcons fought fire with fire early on. Fuqua buried three three-pointers in the first eight-minute period, while also establishing center Boris Ngundji down low.

“We kind of went back to some of the things we were working on early in the season offensively,” said FS head coach Marcus Gregory, following the game against Banner Christian. “With the back-to-back games, we opened up our rotation a little to help give our guys as much rest as possible.”

The Falcons substituted five-for-five in a Grennell or VMI-style system.

“Our second group did a good job of maintaining their defensive assignments, and it helped us shorten the game.”

The Falcons led 22-17 on a tip-in by Josh Davis with 15 seconds left in the first quarter, and extended their lead to 29-19 on a stickback by Ngundji.

A pair of three-pointers by Davis Cyrus and Antonio Gonzalez helped Fuqua build a 36-28 lead at the break.

A layup by Carter Cunningham and a three-pointer by Gonzalez pushed the Falcons' lead to 41-28 early on in the third quarter, but it wasn't until late in the period that the Falcons were able to get some separation on the Bearcats. A three-pointer by Josh Davis with a minute left in the period and a Cunningham foul shot helped put Fuqua ahead 58-43 at the end of the third.

Fuqua maintained the double-digit point advantage throughout the fourth quarter. Though the Falcons hit only two field goals over the final eight minutes, they were 14-19 at the foul line to maintain a four-possession lead.

A stickback by Ngundji off a missed free throw by Gonzalez with 2:57 left gave Fuqua a 68-55 lead.

Banner Christian was led in scoring by Stefan Mohammed, who had a game-high 25 points, while Zach Grant and Jerron Athey scored 14 points apiece.

Fuqua was led by Ngundji, who had a double-double of 20 points and 14 rebounds on the night, while Gonzalez scored 19 and dished out five assists. Davis Cyrus and Al Baker scored nine points apiece, while Cunningham scored six points and pulled down nine rebounds.

“We worked hard to get to this point, and played a lot of back-to-back games and a lot of tough games to prepare us for the tournaments,

said Gregory following Tuesday's game. “We can feel good about where we are. There are no bad teams still playing at this point in the season, and fortunately for us, we're still playing, which is a testament to how hard these guys have worked.”

Against Carlisle on Wednesday night, the Falcons trailed by four points at the end of the third quarter, but the Chiefs used a late second quarter run to open up a 46-29 advantage.

Fuqua, which shot well in the first half, was held to just 13 points in the second half.