Eagles Lose in Overtime at Bluefield

Bluefield, VA - Eagles Men's Basketball has had a hot streak going their past few weeks winning 7 of their last eight games. The only loss coming to Montreat on the road in that span. They were looking to keep that streak going and keep pushing for the number two spot in the AAC standings. The Eagles would come up short in this one on the road with an overtime loss to the Rams of Bluefield 78-70.

The Eagles started out with an early lead through the first few minutes of the first half, but the Rams would work their way back into the game tieing the game at seven all at the fifteen-minute mark. Brandon Barron's layup would give the Eagles the lead again and they would get another small lead at 15 to 10 on a Nate Louis three-pointer.  The Rams would catch the Eagles again and eventually take the lead 19-17 with just nine minutes left in the first half.

The game would stay close for the remainder of the first half until the Eagles started to pull away again on a Jalin Wimberly three-pointer with just two minutes left. Antonio Spencer's layup in the final minute gave the Eagles at 38-32 lead going into halftime.

The second half would see the Eagles maintaining their lead for the first ten minutes of the second half. They extended their lead to nine points on Jalin Wimberly's dunk giving the Eagles a 50-41 lead. The Eagles kept this nine-point lead most of the second half until about three minutes left in the game. The Rams started chipping away at the lead and got it to within one point with just sixteen seconds left. Nate Louis hit a pair of free throws giving the Eagles the three-point advantage of 68-65. With just two seconds on the clock, Bluefield would tie the game at 68 all and that is the way the regular time would end.

In overtime, the Eagles went stone-cold and only scored two points in the five minutes of play. The Rams were able to get ten points in the overtime period and walk away with a 78-70 win.

Ultimately, it was the three-point shooting that did in the Eagles on the road at Bluefield where they shot 4 of 21 at 19%, however, the ability to not hold the lead at the end allowing the Rams to catch up created the overtime. The Eagles will need to finish off teams once you have the lead. They have three more games to do this and each of them are winnable games. The Eagles have CIU, Kentucky Christian, and Tennessee Wesleyan in the final two weeks of the season. The game with Tennessee Wesleyan will be an important matchup as the Bulldogs sit one spot in from them in the AAC standings.

The Eagles had four players in double-figures for the game. Jalin Wimberly led the way with 15 points. Nate Louis and Greg Hobbs both had 14 points each and Tyler Smith followed with 13 points.

The next game for the Eagles is a matchup with CIU on the road Tuesday evening.