High-Flying Offense Steals the Show Thursday in Waleska

By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media

Photo Courtesy of Greg Spell/G-RoxPhotos.com

WALESKA, Ga. – Men's basketball claimed it's fifth-consecutive triumph and avenged one of its losses within the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) after overpowering the Knights of Kentucky Christian, 101-74, on Thursday evening at home.

The visitors slipped past the Eagles back on Dec. 5, 78-76, when the two squads battled in Kentucky, but a widespread offensive attack – with all five starters hitting double figures – helped Reinhardt protect the Brown Athletic Center floor to improve to 10-3 (5-2 AAC).

Jalin Wimberly paced the hometown group with 16 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.

"Total team effort… Winning big like that in a conference game was pretty special and took a lot of hard work by our guys," lead Eagle Justin Newton said. "We really started the game at a high level on the defensive side and stringed a lot of stops together which allowed us to get out in transition and get some easy shots. I was so proud of our guys sharing the ball and celebrating each other's successes.

"A huge game coming up this weekend with the defending AAC champs coming to our gym. Coach Burton will have those guys ready and I believe our guys are ready for the challenge to win the week."

A 57-point opening half set the tone for the evening as Reinhardt started the game on a 7-0 run and never looked back.

Josh Press added 12 points, DJ Lampkin had 11 and both Kristian Collins and Tyler Smith chipped in with 10 tallies apiece. The Eagles brought the energy on both ends of the floor and held the Knights to just 40.9 percent shooting for the game and 35.3 percent in the first half.

Conversely, the hosts connected on 54.8 percent in the opening 20 minutes to jump out to the monster lead of 26 (57-31) at the break.

Kentucky Christian found itself down by 29 early in the second half but fought its way back to a 19-point deficit after a 10-0 run in about two minutes. A Reinhardt timeout refocused the hometown club as it went on a scoring spree of its own to get back the lost points and more.

The Eagles emptied the bench the rest of the way as they jumped ahead by a contest-best 30 points with under a minute remaining.

Fourteen players who came onto the court for Reinhardt found the scorebook, with 11 student-athletes netting four-or-more.

The Eagles outrebounded the opposition, 43-34, while they tabulated 26 total assists in the win. Defensively, the Knights turned the ball over 24 times in defeat.

Overall, Reinhardt shot 48.2 percent (40-of-83) and hit 11 treys while going 10-for-12 from the free throw line.

The team looks to keep winning on Saturday when it welcomes Union (Ky.) at 4 p.m.

The Bulldogs are receiving votes in the national rankings. 

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