Basketball Can't Overcome Knights at Home Saturday

By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media

Photo Courtesy of Greg Spell/G-RoxPhotos.com

WALESKA, Ga. – Men's basketball was unable to hold onto a second-half advantage over St. Andrews (N.C.) after the Knights came back from eight points down with just over nine minutes remaining to win, 74-67, inside the Brown Athletic Center Saturday.

Four players hit double-digit scoring in defeat – Dwayne Wilson (18), Chris Rogers (15), Blake McIntyre (12) and Josh Daniels (11) – but it wasn't enough after St. Andrews guard Isaac Clay and company took over the outing in the final minutes.

Clay finished with a game-high 27 points.

After trailing by one at halftime, 32-31, the Eagles were able to overcome an early five-point deficit in the opening moments of the second half by using strong defense and an efficient offensive approach. Three-point shots began to fall for Reinhardt as it pulled ahead, 54-46, with 10:06 remaining in the conference battle.

A turning point of the night, however, also came on the offensive end for the hometown team just a few seconds later, as Marcus Kirkland missed a point-blank shot that would've put his group up by double figures.

A 10-2 run by the Knights tied the score at 56 with just under seven minutes left on the clock, and then Clay would nail another triple to give St. Andrews the lead once again. Fouls and missed shots would put Reinhardt in a bad position the rest of the way after a one-possession ball game would stretch to three with just seconds left.

Additionally, Jamison Syphore earned 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals, while Kye Jeremiah added five dimes.

The Eagles shot 25-of-62 (40.3 percent) and hit eight shots from beyond the arc in the loss.

It's a quick turnaround for Reinhardt, as the club comes back to the court on Monday night for more Appalachian Athletic Conference competition against Columbia International (S.C.) at 7:30 p.m. 

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