Temple Terrace, FL - The Knights opened the 2022-23 season by traveling to Temple Terrace, Florida to take part in the Florida College Classic. The Knights played the Falcons of Florida college on Thursday, October 27th and the Fire of Southeastern University on Friday, October 28th. The Knights would be in for two tough games as both teams were ranked in the NAIA Preseason Top 25 with the Falcons ranked 21st and the Fire ranked 17th. The Knights would start out Thursday's game against the Falcons falling behind early on but would keep the game close as they would keep the deficit close. The Falcons would go on a run late in the first half though as the Knights would quickly be down by 20 points and the Knights would trail 53-34 at the half. The Knights would come out of halftime by making the first basket of the half to close the deficit to 17 points but it would be the closest the Knights would get as the Falcons would show why they were ranked in the top 25 as the Knights would go on to lose the game 98-65. Brice Martin led the Knights with 20 points as Jayce Moore would add 16 points and Maliek Sadler would add on 11 points. The Knights would return on Friday night, looking to have better success against the Fire. The Knights would look better as they would hit their first four shots of the game, all three-point field goals, to take the early lead. The Knights would continue to hold the lead throughout the first half as they would slowly pull away from the Fire, leading by as many as 19 points in the first half, before going into halftime up 49-37. The Knights would come out of the halftime break cold as the Fire would cut the lead down to eight points with 12:38 left to play in the game. The Knights would find their shooting rhythm though as they would push their lead back out to 19 points with 9:27 remaining in the game. The Knights would go cold again after quick burst as they would let the Fire get back in the game as the game would be tied at 79-79 with 37 seconds left. The Knights would call a timeout with 20 seconds left to draw up a play and would run it to perfection as N'Kyzie Hawkins would hit a shot with 11 seconds left in the game and the Knights defense would step up to hold on to the lead as the Knights would get the upset victory 81-79. Hawkins led the Knights with 22 points off of the bench as Martin and Sadler both had 17 points and JJ Richards would contribute 15 assists. The Knights will look to ride the momentum into their next game as they open up their home schedule on Tuesday, November 1st when they host the Mariners of Coastal Georgia. Tip-off is set for 7:30 PM EST.