What a Win for the Eagles!

Pikeville, Ky - Reinhardt University Men's Basketball turned around their season in the month of January.  After having a roller coaster start of the season and several blowout losses, the Eagles have readjusted and revamped themselves during January to give some light to their season.

Today's game with Pikeville was a statement to the AAC that Reinhardt is a tough game no matter when and where you play them.  They are making themselves a team that you do not want to face in these final weeks of the regular season and in the tournament.  The Eagles shocked the Bears home crowd today winning 85-83 and moving up to #5 in the AAC standings.  Of course, the remarkable January will need to be backed up by having the same thing happen in February - but they did set a tone on how they want their season to go.

Nate Jones led the way again scoring 21 points on 8-16 shooting from the field.  He was the only starter in double-figures in the game, but Brasen James was just outside double-figures with 8 points total.  The rest of the Eagles' scoring came from bench production. Darrien Reed scored 11 points, Tayden Owens had 13 points as backup point guard, Nehki Fisher had 10 points, and Tyler Smith made his way back to the court scoring 13 points for the Eagles. Smith has been absent from the lineup nursing an injury for the past several weeks. His physical presence was felt on the court, but it is also mentally good for the team to see the senior back on the court for this final push of the 2024 season. There is no doubt that his efforts pushed the Eagles over the top in this tough AAC matchup.

The Eagles were in this game from start to finish, however, they did trail as many as nine points in the first half.  They traded leads a few times in the first half before the Bears got the slight lead, which they enjoyed at the halftime break.  The game was 45 to 38 in favor of the Bears going into the half. 

This halftime deficit did not bother Coach Newton's squad and they just kept battling to stay within striking distance.  The lead would grow to high as 14 points with just 15 minutes left in the game, but the Eagles would hang in there tying the game on a Mitchell Kennedy layup, 58 all. Pikeville would keep their narrow lead until just forty seconds left in the game as a loose ball would find its way into the hands of Tyler Smith. Smith was spotted up on the corner of the three-point arch and he drained the three-pointer giving the Eagles their first lead of the second 83-81.

Pikeville tied the game again at 83 all with just twenty-five seconds left - which gave the Eagles the chance to take a final shot if they chose to do so.  Tayden Owens brought the ball up the court and started to make his move with only ten seconds left in the game.  He was fouled on his way to a layup, which put him at the line in the final seconds.  Owens calmly knocked down both free throws, but this was still very much anyone's game. The Bears would take the final shot which was a three-pointer that bounced off the left of the rim into the waiting hands of a UPike rebounder. The putback went in the basket - but the shot was waived off as the referees said the shot did not beat the final buzzer.  This gave the Eagles the much-needed road victory of a top-quality team in the AAC.

The win puts the Eagles at 5th spot overall in the AAC standings and moves their conference record to 10-9.  The Eagles have a week off before welcoming the Rams of CIU to Waleska on Tuesday, February 7th.