AAC #1 and #2 Meet to Battle it Out

David FInney | photo by Holly Heath

Waleska, GA - Two heavyweights met on the campus of Reinhardt to battle it out for AAC superiority. Reinhardt ranked #2 in the AAC and Union ranked #1 are looking to make their last statements before the conference tournament starts next week. The two teams have set up a rivalry that should go on for years. Both teams are long, athletic, and love to run the floor and put up shots.  Sometimes when you have two great teams playing - you get a high-scoring event, but other times you get a hard-fought defensive battle.  Tonight, we got the latter.

The Eagles can very easily put up points in the upper eights or nineties on any given night, but you have to expect that when you face a quality team like Union - every dribble, every pass, and every shot is going to be guarded closely and altered from what you usually see.  The game was close from start to finish, but the Eagles actually had an eleven-point lead in the first half. Just when you thought that Reinhardt might actually extend this lead, the Bulldogs started creating turnovers and taking down the lead the Eagles were enjoying.

Around two minutes left in the first half,  Union would have the lead down to seven and they were looking to find ways to cut the lead even more. The halftime lead was set at four, 29-25, which was one of the lowest point outputs for the Eagles this season. It was not that they were shooting poorly - it was more so that the defensive intensity was high and making easy baskets was hard to come by.  Union was facing the same as Reinhardt was stepping up their defensive pressure as well.

Nate Louis would lead the Eagles again scoring 15 points in the game, however, he was 0-3 for the game shooting three-pointers. As a team, Reinhardt would only shoot 3-15 on three-pointers for this game. Union was not much better at 24% behind the three-point arc. Every shot was contested and the full court defense was making it hard for each to get their shots off.

Reinhardt would hold the lead all the way through the second half until the 4:45 mark in the game. Union would go up 54-52  on a made three-pointer and everyone in attendance knew that this one was going to come down to the last seconds and which team had the ball last. 

Union was able to extend their lead to nine points with around two minutes left in the game, however, the Eagles would make a comeback as well. Strong plays by Jalin Wimberly, Marcus Kirkland, and Tyler Smith would keep the Eagles within striking distance as the seconds ticked off the clock. Keyshaun Street would cut the lead to just three when he scored on a layup where he was fouled. Street made his free throw and got the Eagles back into the game. Reinhardt still had a chance to pull this one out in the end as Josh Press rebounded a missed Bulldog free throw and got the ball up the floor quickly. The ball landed in the hands of Tafari Thomas who had the last look at the basket for the Eagles. The shot looked great and appeared to be going in, however, it would rim out with just about five seconds left. The game ended 65-61 in favor of the bulldogs.

The Eagles have one more game in the regular season this Saturday at 1 pm at The Brown Athletic Center. The Men's and Women's programs will be celebrating their Senior Players at their games. Both teams play St. Andrews - Women at 11 am and the Men at 1 pm.