Bryan Escapes Reinhardt in Extra Time Thursday Night

By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media

WALESKA, Ga. – A furious rally in the second half came up just short for Reinhardt men's basketball at home on Thursday night, as the Eagles fell in overtime to the Lions of Bryan (Tenn.), 83-80, inside the Brown Athletic Center.

The hometown team (4-11, 3-7 Appalachian Athletic Conference) came within seconds of stealing a league win, but the visitors nailed a shot from deep with just seven ticks on the clock left to send the competition to extra time after an Eagle 3-point attempt at the buzzer came up just short.

Reinhardt would then open up a five-point advantage in overtime at 77-72, but a 9-2 spurt would put the Lions on the verge of escaping with just 14 seconds remaining. With the team down by a pair at 81-79, Kye Jeremiah was only able to connect on the first of two free throws before Bryan snagged the rebound in the lane.

From there, the visitors netted two more tallies and a desperation heave by Blake McIntyre wasn't answered as the final horn sounded.

"The guys really competed after being down 10 at half," lead Eagle Justin Newton said. "We stayed together and battled back to take the lead, but you're not going to beat anybody letting teams shoot 55 percent from the field and turning it over 17 times. We will go back tomorrow and try to adjust for a long road stretch. These are good guys and they'll continue to battle."

The Eagles' offense awoke in the second half and put up 43 points in the period following a sub-par performance in the opening stanza en route to a 39-29 disadvantage at halftime.

In total, the hosts connected on 28-of-58 attempts (48.3 percent) and made 12 shots from beyond the arc, but the Lions were just a little bit better with 31 makes out of 56 tries (55.4 percent) and a dozen 3-pointers as well.

Four Reinhardt players hit double figures in the first game back in 2020, as Jordan Wright led the way with 19 points with five treys. Chris Rogers had 18, and he was joined by McIntyre (11) and Jeremiah (10).

Rogers also added a half-dozen rebounds and a pair of steals.

Reinhardt, who had 17 turnovers in the loss, hits the road for a contest on Saturday against the Buffaloes of Milligan (Tenn.).

Tip is set for 4 p.m.

For up-to-the-minute Eagles sports news, follow Reinhardt Athletics on Facebook, @RU_Eagles on Twitter and @ru_eagles on Instagram. 

For more information on Reinhardt Men's Basketball, please click here.