Make It Four In A Row!

David Finney | photo by Gian-Luca Fahling

Waleska, GA - This is a stat that you will not see often in the sport of basketball:  The Eagles have three players in double figures all coming off the bench to lead them in scoring and help Reinhardt secure their fourth win in a row. This would be eight wins out of twelve since the Christmas Break for the Eagles. To put it simply, this team is on a roll.  They are athletic, high-skilled, and deep. Coach Newton often goes ten to eleven deep in his lineup for production.  He can create different lineups depending on who the opponent is or how each player is playing.  Reinhardt has weapons and you never know who is going to step up and make plays. It can be a nightmare for the opposing team to figure out.

On Saturday, it was Nate Louis, Dereck Lampkin, and Keyshaun Street doing the damage against the visiting Rams of CIU.  Louis would have 19 points to lead the Eagles followed by Lampkin and Street with 12 each. 

When the game started, the last thing you would have thought was this team had a four-game winning streak as they allowed the Rams to pull ahead 9-1 immediately. The Eagles' first point came on a free throw from Tyler Smith. Before you know it, the lead had been extended to fifteen points at 20-5 just inside the twelve-minute mark. Josh Press would break the scoring drought with a three-pointer but the lead was at sixteen points at this point of the game. Many teams would crumble in this situation, but not the Eagles. They started locking down on defense and creating turnovers and two Jalin Wimberly layups brought the lead down to twelve. Wimberly would finish with 8 points and 4 rebounds for the game.

Layups by Marcus Kirkland and Dereck Lampkin along with another three-pointer by Josh Press brought the lead down to just five points with five minutes left in the half. Tafari Thomas had a series of free throws and a layup with a minute left to get the lead to just two points, but the Rams would get a bucket as the time ran out giving them the four-point lead at the half, 37-33. It was a remarkable comeback by Reinhardt and you knew they were not finished.

In the second half, the game would finally get tied at 40 each on a layup by Kristian Collins. This was the first tie since starting the game zero all. The light switch came on for the Eagles and from this point on - the game was theirs. What was once a 40 all tie was now a seven-point lead 49-42. Nate Louis hit a three to go along with a layup from Lampkin. Louis would follow with a couple of layups and another three-pointer to extend the lead. The Eagles were back to running once again after a slow start and Nate Louis was the hot man. 

Keyshaun Street would heat up as well making several key three-pointers to help the lead stay about fifteen on CIU. Lampkin, Louis, and Street would lead the way the final fifteen minutes of this game putting down a talented CIU squad. The final five minutes would allow Coach Newton to clear his bench and allow all to get game time. The Rams were able to chip away at the lead to get it to fifteen points, but they were never a threat to taking back the lead. Reinhardt would take the win 84 to 69 and solidify their third-place spot in the conference.

The Eagles will be welcoming in Milligan on Tuesday evening as they look to get a loss back that Milligan gave them at their place a few weeks ago. The regular season winds down in a couple of weeks so each of these final four games is very important for the Eagles to keep their third-place spot and possibly move up one with a little help.