Eagles Lose at the Buzzer

David FInney | photo by G-Rox Photography

Athens, TN - If you go back in the schedule to early December, the Reinhardt Eagles faced Tennessee Wesleyan at home and it was a narrow two-point loss for the Eagles. Fast forward to February 1st and you have two equal teams playing each other again except this time it was Reinhardt was on the road.

Since the teams met in early December, there has been a lot of things happening. There have been game postponements, cancellations, and movements and this can create some headaches for a team and coaching staff trying to work their way through a tough schedule. The Eagles have been resilient through the journey of this schedule and they continue to come out and play with intensity and toughness no matter what they are facing.

This game would start out good for the Eagles as Katrice Jackson would get the Eagles on the scoreboard in the first twenty seconds with a layup and she added another one minutes later. Catherine Shope would follow her with two three-pointers and Reinhardt would take an early 10-5 lead. A couple of layups by Brylee Puckett and Abi Haynes would extend the Eagles' lead to seven. Everything seemed to be going great for Reinhardt as they kept extending the lead in the first quarter.

Tennessee Wesleyan would not sit back and let Reinhardt run away with it this early and they would chip away at the lead, however, as the quarter ended - the Eagles had the early seven-point lead, 22-15.  There were signs that this was going to be a battle to the end and neither team was willing to give any ground.

Starting the second quarter, The Eagles would go into a scoring slump that would not be broken until Tarrah Gibson hit a jumper with about five minutes left in the quarter. During the scoring drought, the bulldogs were able to catch up with Reinhardt. Symone William's free throw would extend the Eagles' narrow lead, however, it was the last point Reinhardt would score for the second quarter. The second quarter ended with a 27-25 Eagle lead, but this low output of scoring would let the Bulldogs back into the game. Neither team was shooting the ball particularly well but somehow the Eagles still had the lead going into halftime.

The second half would be a chance for Reinhardt to build on their small lead, but which team would come out after halftime? Catherine Shope had to step up and do a lot of the scoring to keep the Eagles in this game. Shope would have 15 total points and 6 rebounds for the game. Brylee Puckett's layup around the six-minute mark would give the Eagles their largest lead of the game at 10 points. Reinhardt did not shoot the ball great on the evening as they were just 33% from the field and 22% from the three-point line, however, they were doing enough to keep the narrow lead and possibly pick up a valuable team win! Even if the Eagles are not lighting up the scoreboard, they can always play with intensity and create havoc on defense. This can help by getting transition points without a set defense. The third quarter ended with the Eagles enjoying a 38-34 lead.

Everything in the game would come down to the fourth quarter and if Reinhardt could hold this four-point lead. Haynes was having an off night shooting the ball, however, her floor leadership and hustle are always there and the team would need her going down the stretch. Tarrah Gibson would step up as well scoring 8 points and bringing down 12 rebounds - one point shy of a double-double for the night.

The fourth quarter would see Tennessee Wesleyan take the lead within the first two minutes and the game was setting up to have a spectacular, nail-biting ending. Catherine Shope would do her best to keep the Eagles close along with the guard play of Symone Williams and Abi Haynes. This team had the talent to finish the game out with a win even if their scoring was a little down.

Tarrah Gibson made layup with just under five minutes left in the game would give the Eagles their narrow lead back, 45-44. The game would go through several lead changes and ties in the last two minutes and the game was knotted at 49 with two minutes left in the game. Tennessee Wesleyan made a layup with just over a minute in the game taking the lead back, but Abi Haynes would not shy away from the moment taking the ball to the basket and getting fouled in the process. Haynes made both free throws and the Bulldogs just had a one-point lead with about twenty seconds left.

With only ten seconds left, Catherine Shope gets a steal as Tennessee Wesleyan brought the ball up the court. Shope quickly got the ball to Haynes and after a scuffle - Haynes poked the ball to Tarrah Gibson who was heading down the lane. Gibson calmly scored the layup giving the Eagles a small lead and just about 6 seconds for Tennessee Wesleyan. After a timeout, the Bulldogs were able to take the ball at halfcourt and the teams set up to finish out the game. The Bulldogs were able to find a player cutting down the baseline who was able to score on the play. The Eagles were able to get one last inbound play under their basket and got a good look for one last shot, but it would rim out and it was a tough, narrow defeat for our Eagles, 52-53.

Reinhardt will continue to work through their schedule and figure out how to finish out games. Their next chance to do this will be on Thursday night when the Eagles will be on the road again for a game with Johnson (TN). The next home will be this Saturday at 3 pm in the friendly confines of The Brown Athletic Center.