Smith and Collins Lead the Eagles Back to Fast Running Form

David Finney

Knoxville, TN - After playing what will probably be their worst game of the season this past Tuesday, the Eagles get their mojo back and unleash a flurry of points when they took on the Royals of Johnson University on Friday evening. Reinhardt scored 46 in the first half and 53 in the second half winning the game 99 to 77.  This is the fast-paced and high-flying team that we are used to seeing when you talk about Reinhardt Eagles Basketball. When they are playing this way, there are not too many teams that can play with them in the AAC.

The game would actually start off slow for the Eagles only scoring two points in the first four minutes of the game, however, Reinhardt's first two-point came on a dunk from Tyler Smith setting a tone for how he would play in the game. The early scoring drought would allow Johnson to create a nine-point lead. Tafari Thomas would slam home another two around the fifteen-minute mark, but the offense would not really start going until Thomas makes two three-pointers around thirteen minutes left in the half bringing the Eagles within three. The offense would start flowing when Marcus Kirkland would have a couple of rebounds and layups midway through the first half. It would take balanced scoring from Tyler Smith, Keyshaun Street, and Kirkland to keep the Eagles close. Jalin Wimberly's jumper around the seven-minute mark would give the first tie of the game since the game was 2-2 early in the game.

With the final five minutes of the game left and the score tied, Tyler Smith would get on a roll and knock down a series of jump shots, layups, free throws, and a three-pointer to give the Eagles a nine-point lead. With about a minute left, Street would make another three-pointer to extend the lead to eleven. Smith would hit another jumper in the remaining seconds of the half which would give Reinhardt a 46 to 35 lead to take into halftime.

Smith would start the second half right where he left off making an early layup assisted by Kristian Collins. Collins would get into the scoring act making two back-to-back three-pointers. The eleven-point halftime lead would now be extended to nineteen very quickly and the Eagles' athleticism and speed would take over. The game would stay around a fifteen to eighteen-point lead until about midway through the second half. The Royals were able to get the lead down to eleven points, however, that would be as close as they would come and the high flyer Tafari Thomas made sure of that with another dunk extending the lead back to fourteen.

Kristian Collins would make four three-pointers inside of the final six minutes securing the lead for the Eagles allowing Coach Newton and staff to breathe a little easier for the remainder of the game. Reinhardt had five players in double figures with two of those coming off the bench. Smith and Collins were no doubt the leaders of this game scoring 21 and 20 respectively. Thomas had his second game in a row with a double-double scoring 10 and pulling down 11 rebounds. Street and Kirkland had solid games scoring 15 and 11 - both coming off the bench to boost the Eagles. Dereck Lampkin had an impressive night running the floor racking up 11 assists to go with his 8 rebounds and 7 points.

There is no time to rest as the team will be back in action on Saturday afternoon when they visit Montreat in North Carolina at 3 pm. The Eagles will have a few road games until they are back home on January 18th.