Sentinels Hold Off Fayetteville Academy, 67-65

St. Christopher won 67-65 at Fayetteville Academy on Tuesday, scoring 23 points in the fourth quarter after being outscored 27-11 in the third. Sylva Okauru’s putback with 2:41 left gave the Sentinels a 61-59 lead they never gave back, and he scored 10 straight St. Christopher points in the last three and a half minutes. Free throws from Kendrick Pulley, Shreyas Mani and Pulley again pushed the lead to 67-63, and Malik Moore’s basket with two seconds left made it 67-65.

Fayetteville Academy came into the night after an 18-5 season in 2025-26. Under coach Walcott Wayne the Eagles went 8-0 in the NCISAA Sandhills conference and finished 17th in MaxPreps’ North Carolina rankings. They went 23-10 the season before.

The first half belonged to St. Christopher. A 13-2 run across the first and second quarters turned a 6-5 deficit into an 18-8 lead. Brodie Clifton hit three threes before the break, and Dougie Jenkins went 5-of-6 inside the arc in the first two periods. The Sentinels led 33-21 at halftime, and Okauru’s basket to open the third made it 35-21, their largest lead of the night.

Fayetteville Academy then scored 15 straight points and took a 36-35 lead. St. Christopher had 10 turnovers in the third quarter, eight of them during that run, and the hosts scored after five of their six third-quarter steals. James Ferguson scored 14 of his points in the period. Clifton’s threes put the Sentinels back in front at 38-36 and 44-41, and a Pulley steal and three made it 41-39 in between. The hosts closed the quarter on a 7-0 run and led 48-44 after three, their largest lead of the night.

The fourth quarter went the other way: two turnovers, six assists and four offensive rebounds for the Sentinels. The game had 12 lead changes and six ties, and St. Christopher did not trail after Okauru’s putback.

Pulley, a junior guard in his first season with St. Christopher, played all 32 minutes and set the pace for a starting five of two juniors, two sophomores and a freshman. He had six assists and one turnover in the first half as the Sentinels built their 12-point lead.

After the third-quarter run put the hosts ahead 48-44, Pulley had a hand in each of St. Christopher’s first seven points of the fourth. He hit a three off a Jenkins pass, fed Okauru for the basket that put the Sentinels ahead 49-48 and scored a basket of his own to retake the lead at 51-50. He later found Clifton for the three that tied it 54-54 and set up Okauru’s basket that tied it again at 59-59. Pulley finished the quarter with seven points, three assists and no turnovers. In the final 41 seconds he made one of two free throws for a 65-63 lead, then made his only attempt with 11 seconds left for 67-63.

Okauru scored 12 of St. Christopher’s 23 fourth-quarter points. With the Sentinels down 57-54 and 3:30 left, he finished a three-point play off a Mani pass to tie it. After his tying basket at 59-59, Jenkins stole the ball from Ferguson, and Okauru grabbed Clifton’s miss and scored through a foul for the three-point play that made it 62-59. His basket off another Mani assist made it 64-61 with 2:02 left.

Jenkins guarded Bryce West, Fayetteville Academy’s top perimeter shooter, for most of the night. West scored 16, but it took him 21 shots: he went 6-of-21 from the field and 2-of-14 from three. Jenkins stayed close to him without fouling. West’s only free throws came on a first-quarter foul, and he didn’t get back to the line in the last three quarters. He went 3-of-7 in the third quarter, when the hosts made their run, and 3-of-14 the rest of the game. With eight seconds left and St. Christopher up 67-63, his three missed. Jenkins also assisted on both of Clifton’s third-quarter threes and on Pulley’s three to open the fourth.

St. Christopher shot 25-of-57 from the field: 16-of-27 inside the arc, 9-of-30 from three and 8-of-11 at the line. The Sentinels outrebounded Fayetteville Academy 33-21, and Okauru’s 19 rebounds were two short of the hosts’ team total. St. Christopher committed 20 turnovers to Fayetteville Academy’s 12. The hosts shot 22-of-40 inside the arc and 6-of-28 from three.

Clifton’s 18 points came in his first regular-season game since a broken foot ended his 2025-26 season. He made 6-of-14 threes, the most he has made in a game in St. Christopher’s records. His previous high was four, in a preseason game against Franklin Prep National in October, and his 18 points beat his previous best of 16, against Amandla Academy last November. Before the injury last season he averaged 9.7 points over 21 games and shot 41-of-128 from three. Two of his threes Tuesday put St. Christopher back in front during Fayetteville Academy’s third-quarter run, and another tied the game in the fourth.

Okauru finished with 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting, 5-of-6 at the line, 19 rebounds (five offensive), four blocks and an efficiency rating of 37. Clifton scored 18, and Pulley had 10 points and nine assists. Jenkins added 10 points on 5-of-6 inside the arc with three assists and a steal. Mani had six points and four assists in 31 minutes. Ferguson led Fayetteville Academy with 32 points on 11-of-15 inside the arc, plus four steals. West scored 16, and Moore had 15 points and nine assists.

St. Christopher is next scheduled to scrimmage North Raleigh Christian Academy on November 5.