Eagles Lose a Close One on the Road at Montreat

Montreat, NC - As the 2022-23 regular season moves closer to the end, the Eagles need every win they can get.  Road wins are tough to come by in the AAC and tonight's game was no different as the Eagles were traveling to take on the Cavaliers of Montreat. The Eagles would come up just short of getting their sixth AAC win in a row as they drop a much-needed win to Montreat 64-60.

The Eagles had a tough night shooting against the Cavaliers where they would just shoot 20% from behind the three-point arch. The overall field goal percentage was 36.4% shooting just 20 of 55 from the field, however, they kept fighting all the way through and had a chance to at least tie the game with just twenty seconds remaining. Their previous loss on the other side of the five-game win streak was a narrow loss to league-leading Union Bulldogs where Jalin Wimberly's shot narrowly missed hitting off the back rim. The Eagles had another chance to salvage this game when they were not playing their best. Brandon Barron, who was a spark at the point guard position in the final seven minutes of the second half, brought the ball up the court and got the ball to Nate Louis who was able to get a heavily guarded three-point shot up. The shot was not the best look and came up a little short. The Cavaliers rebounded and were immediately fouled. The Montreat player that was fouled was only 28% from the free throw line for the season, but he calmly made one of his free throws to seal the game for the Cavaliers. 

Tafari Thomas led the Eagles in scoring with 13 points and he also had 5 rebounds. Tyler Smith and Nate Louis were the other two players in double-figure scoring. Brandon Barron and Antonio Spencer both had 9 points each.

Overall, neither team shot the ball particularly well - but Montreat did just enough to get the win in the game. The Eagles made a valor effort in the second half of the game where they took a fourteen-point deficit and caught back up to tie the game with just a little over a minute left in the game. The Eagles were able to tie the game around the one-minute mark and make a game of it in the final minute.

The Eagles will need to start a new streak this weekend as they will be traveling to St. Andrews in North Carolina (Sat. Jan 28th @ 4 pm). It is a perfect time to get a new streak going and go into the AAC Tournament ready to play.