Eagles Back to Their Winning Ways

David Finney | photo by G-Rox Photography

Grayson, KY - If you look back on the season of Reinhardt Men's Basketball, you can notice a pattern. They have several winning streaks with very few random losses scattered along the way. The Eagles have proven that they are among the best in the Appalachian Athletic Conference and at times - they have been the best. The key to being the best is taking care of teams that you are better than, especially, as this 2021-22 season winds down. The Eagles had a chance to do this on Saturday versus Kentucky Christian, which they did with a dominating 85-69 win!

Coach Newton and his staff have the team playing very well right now and besides a few minor hiccups - the team has been taking down its opponents since December. This game against the Knights of Kentucky Christian would be no different as Reinhardt would pour on their high-paced offense and relentless defense which creates havoc for the opposing team, however, the start would be somewhat slow for the Eagles. The Knights would get out to a quick 8-0 lead until Greg Hobbs would get Reinhardt on the board with two made free throws. In past games for the Eagles where they have had slow starts, the ending result was not what they wanted. The Eagles wanted to make sure this did not happen and they were able to lock down the Knights with tough defense and the shots started falling. Nate Louis, Tafari Thomas, and Jalin Wimberly would lead the comeback by the Eagles, but Kentucky Christian did not want to give up their lead without a fight. 

The Eagles would not officially get the lead in the game until around the four-minute mark when Greg Hobbs scored on a layup and Kristian Collins nailed a three-pointer giving the Eagles the one-point advantage, 25-24. After a turnover by the Knights, Nate Louis would follow the comeback with a devastating dunk and the Eagles would be leading by three points. Reinhardt would take a one-point advantage into halftime, 33-32.

The second half would see Josh Press and Tyler Smith heat up and start knocking down shots. Both opened the second half with back-to-back three-pointers for the Eagles. Press would hit another three moments later followed by another by Kristian Collins. At this point, you could feel things heating up in the building. The one thing you know you're going to see when you watch the Eagles play is a high-flying, acrobatic dunk and this time it was Tyler Smith's turn to get a rim-rocking dunk. The previous string of three-pointers along with this dunk gave the Eagles the largest lead of the game at seven points and they would just continue to extend the lead from there.

By the midway point of the second half, the Eagles had a sizable lead that they were not going to relinquish as they had done in the previous game. The Eagles were able to extend the ten-point lead at the midway to twenty by the five-minute mark on two free throws by Tafari Thomas. The Eagles would finish out the game with a sixteen-point victory, 85-69.

Coach Newton had four players in double figures. Tyler Smith led the way with 15 points, Kristian Collins had 11, and Josh Press scored 10. Jalin Wimberly was just outside double figures at 9 points and Tafari Thomas was a spark off the bench putting in 14 points and grabbing 9 rebounds.

This team has many weapons and when they all come together and play as one, they are a tough team to beat. Coming down the stretch of the season, this is one team that you do not want to play. Tennessee Wesleyan is the next opponent who the Eagles will play on the road Tuesday night. The Eagles will be back home on Thursday evening on the Reinhardt Campus playing Johnson (TN).