Nate Jones Scores 29 Points in Home Loss to Union

Waleska, GA - RU Men's Basketball comes up short against the visiting Union Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon. This was the second time the two teams have faced this season. The Bulldogs squeaked out an overtime win against Reinhardt back in November.

Nate Jones led the way for the Eagles scoring 29 points. He was 8 of 17 from the field and shot 6 for 10 on three-pointers. He also was 7 for 8 at the free throw line.

Nate Louis had a good game as well scoring a double-double, 13 pts/10 rebs, and had a thundering dunk down the middle of the lane in the first half. Nekhi Fisher and Jared Russo both scored in double figures with 11 and 12 points respectively to help the Eagles. Fisher was 100% shooting from the field going 3 for 3 and Russo was 5 for 6.

Reinhardt kept the game tight for a majority of the first half led by Jone's three-point offense.  The Bulldogs did build a small eight-point lead with around seven minutes left in the first half, but the Eagles easily brought the score close again on a Tucker Lowe jump shot, which tied the score at 44.  The game would go into halftime with the Bulldogs leading 50-45.

In the second half, the Bulldogs were able to expand their lead to 19 points with just 10 minutes left in the game, but the Eagles fought their way back to bring the game to within five points on a Nate Louis layup with just two minutes left in the game.  Reinhardt had a good defense stop on the Bulldogs next time down the court, but a costly turnover by the Eagles allowed Union to add a few more points to their lead in crunch time.  Reinhardt was not able to get the game any closer from this point on as Union would finish out the game hitting their free throws and walking out of Waleska with a road AAC win.

Power forward, Tyler Smith was injured during the first part of the first half and was not able to finish the game. Not having his typical scoring and defensive presence on the court was noticed.

Next up for the Eagles is another AAC matchup with Truett-McConnell on Wednesday at the Brown Athletic Center.  Women tip at 5:30 pm and the men will start around 7:30 pm.