The Eagles Head into Thanksgiving with a Solid AAC Win Against Bryan

Waleska, GA - Reinhardt Basketball was back in action on Tuesday evening just before the Thanksgiving break with a matchup with Bryan College.  The Eagles were in need of a win after having a narrow overtime loss to Union on the road and a tough loss to conference newcomer Pikeville over the weekend.  The Eagles were able to get the job done in the game with Bryan winning 88 to 81 to pick up their second AAC win of this young season. Reinhardt is currently 2-3 in the AAC this season, but the team is starting to gel with both its veteran players and the newcomers to the team.

Redshirt freshman, Brasen James, along with transfer players Nate Jones and Derrian Reed would make sure that the Eagles were going to walk away with a win in this game. All three had many contributing factors throughout the game that kept the Eagles victorious. James would shoot 6 for 7 from the field with 2-2 from behind the three-point arch as he would be tied for the scoring lead at 17 points.

The player that James was tied with was Nate Jones.  Jones was back after sitting the last game with an injury and it paid off for the Eagles as he would hit 17 points on 5 for 12 shooting and 3 for 6 behind the arch. Jones also had 8 rebounds in the game.

Derrian Reed has his best games so far as a new Eagle scoring 16 points off the bench and most of his points came in the second half when the team needed a boost to build their lead. Reed was 4 for 5 behind the three-point line and most of those came in the second half when the Eagles were building their lead.

Nate Louis was the fourth player in double-figures for the Eagles scoring 14 points and pulling down 3 rebounds and picking up 3 steals.

For most of the game, the teams played very close with just a few lead changes throughout the game.  Each team would not be able to get more than three points ahead each for the first half and they went into halftime with the Eagles leading 35 to 34.

The second half would be just as tight early in the second half, but there were signs that the Eagles could get on a run to pull away a little before the game ended. Around the 17-minute mark in the second half, Nehki Fisher hit a three which got the ball rolling.   His made basket would be the catalyst to get a small run going for the Eagles.  The lead would get to about seven points before the Lions would start a run of their own and at the 13-minute mark, the narrow Eagle lead changed the momentum back to the Lions.  Bryan was never able to take the lead back from this point on and the Eagles were able to take the narrow one-point lead and expand it to 20 points.

The game seemed out of reach for the visiting Lions, but they were able to slow the game down and chip away from the Eagles' lead in the final 5 minutes of the game.  The lead dropped to just single digits in the final two minutes of the game when Bryan's guards got on a hot streak. The Eagles had to hold tight to their narrow lead and show poise as the fullcourt press was forced on them. For the most part, the Eagles had control of the game and they finished it out at the free throw line where they were 65% in the game.

Point Guard Brandon Barron was a huge spark in the game and led the floor attack when the second-half lead was being built. Barron has had to sit the past several games after suffering a groin pull early in the season.  He showed no signs of being slowed by the muscle injury and was one of the main factors of the Eagles keeping their lead and finishing out the game with the ball in his hands.  Having both Barron and Jones back on the floor made a world of difference in the outcome of this game. Barron was able to get 11 points and pull down 4 rebounds. 

Reinhardt will only have a couple of days to rest and relax during the Thanksgiving break as they will be traveling to Kingsport, TN to compete in "The Show" tournament on Saturday and Sunday when the team will face Oakland City and Georgetown (Ky.) respectively.