Eagles Season Comes to an End at Kingsport

Kingsport, TN - The Reinhardt Eagles had a roller coaster season with stretches of brilliance and then times of working through issues that arise during a season.  The Eagles came up short losing 95-87 to Truett McConnell in the first round of the 2024 AAC Tournament. The two teams split during the regular season, but it was all Bears in this matchup ending the season for the Eagles.

The Eagles lost a lot of talent from last year's squad and a new group of freshman and transfers came in to fill those rolls. The team had some great returning talent with power forward Tyler Smith and Nate Louis to go with with transfer players Nate Jones and Derrian Reed and this mix was able to lead the rest of the team, however, injuries and other issues had the record going up and down throughout the season.

The highlight of the season was the stretch in January where the Eagles had an established starting five and a solid rotation coming off the bench.  During this stretch, Reinhardt won seven out of nine games and it appeared they would move their way up the standings in the AAC. The team reached fourth place in the standings before the last remaining games in February.  The Eagles lost big man Jared Russo to injury and things seemed to slide in February when the team won just one of their final six games. They hung on to the seventh spot to make it to the tournament.

In the final game of the 2023-24 season, Nate Jones led the team in scoring with 23 points and pulling down 7 rebounds. Tyler Smith added 11 points and Derrian Reed had 10 points coming off the bench.  Nate Louis was just shy of double figures with 9 points and he pulled down 6 rebounds.  Nikhi Fisher had 7 points as well coming off the bench and was 2 for 4 for the field.

Reinhardt was 41% from the field shooting, but they really struggled from the three-point line shooting just 23% (6 for 27).  The three-point line has been an issue as of late for Reinhardt and it seemed to take its toll on the game along with having 17 turnovers.

The Eagles will use the off-season to regroup, heal up from injuries, and see what they have coming back.  Next sesaon should see the return of Mekhi Mawdesley who had to sit out the 2023-24 season with a knee injury. Mawdesley had a great freshman season two seasons ago and will be a player to watch in 2024-25 along with numerous redshirt players from this season. Returning players Brasen James, Nekhi Fisher, Tucker Lowe, Mitchell Kennedy, Jared Russo, Tayden Owens, and others will be the next group to lead this Eagles sqad on the hardwood when the ball starts bouncing around in August.