Lions Roar Back to Silence Eagles

By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media

Photo Courtesy of Greg Spell/G-RoxPhotos.com

DAYTON, Tenn. – A postponed matchup with St. Andrews (N.C.) turned into a trip to the Volunteer State to take on Bryan (Tenn.) on Thursday evening, but the Lions slowed the Eagles in their return trip to campus in an 82-74 conference clash.

The defeat snaps a three-game winning streak by Reinhardt and drops the hometown team's record to 13-6 and 8-5 within the Appalachian Athletic Conference.

Josh Press nearly played the entire game and led the way with 22 points, 7 rebounds, 6 steals and 5 assists. Jalin Wimberly was also in double figures with 12 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.

Despite getting ahead of Bryan by 10 points with less than eight minutes to go before halftime (24-14) and leading by eight tallies at the break (38-30), the Eagle offense was held well below their season average in scoring. Their inability to get the ball in the basket in the second period combined with the Lions roaring back to the tune of 52 second-period points was all she wrote for the visitors.

The defense struggled to slow down Bryan over the final 20 minutes, but the opportunity to sneak away victorious was still in sight after the game was tied at 74 with just 70 seconds remaining on the clock. The Lions, however, had other ideas as they took the ball down and scored right away on a jumper before getting the ball back after Moses Jones – who tied the score just a few seconds earlier – missed a trey to give his squad the advantage back.

Reinhardt wouldn't score the rest of the way as Bryan finished the night on an 8-0 run, including making six free throws in-a-row to end the contest.

The Eagles connected on 28-of-63 attempts for 44.4 percent and hit 10 shots from beyond the arc.

The team looks to bounce back into the win column on Saturday at home against Milligan (Tenn.) at 4 p.m. 

For up-to-the-minute Eagles sports news, follow Reinhardt Athletics on Facebook, @RU_Eagles on Twitter and @ru_eagles on Instagram. 

For more information on Reinhardt Men's Basketball, please click here.