Eagles Show Signs of Excellence Despite Loss to Indiana East

Waleska, GA - Reinhardt Men's Basketball played its most competitive game of this early season on Saturday afternoon at The Brown Athletic Center.  The Eagles have had a challenging start to their season with key injuries and learning a new system under new Head Coach Richard Morgan.  In Saturday's game, the Eagles were competitive from start to finish with signs of excellence scattered throughout.

The Eagles faced a tough opponent from the River States Conference (RSC), Indiana East University Red Wolves, who were playing their second game of the season.  The visiting Red Wolves would come out on top with a narrow 88-80 win over the Eagles. However, Reinhardt stayed within striking distance the entire game after holding an early game lead.  There was a stretch in the second half where Indiana East pulled out to a twenty-point lead, but the navy and gold battled back to get the point spread within six points. 

The game began with high energy as Reinhardt's Derrick Brown scored the initial points through a jumper from the elbow. This helped the Eagles jump out to an early 6-1 lead, but the Wolves would slowly catch back up. At the fourteen-minute mark, Indiana East tied the game, and they took their first lead with about eight minutes left in the first half. By the end of the first period, the Red Wolves took a lead of 41-33. Key players for Reinhardt in the first half included Nekhi Fisher, who led the Eagles with 10 points and 8 rebounds, followed by Blake Seitz with 7 points and 4 boards. Fisher would end the game with a double-double, 21 points total, and 10 rebounds!  Blake Seitz added 3 more rebounds in the second half, bringing his total to 7 in the game.

The second period saw a fierce competition as Cole Henry from Indiana East made a crucial 3-pointer early on. Cole led the Wolves with 20 points total.  In response, Brown of Reinhardt quickly countered with a 3-pointer of his own. Despite these efforts and defensive actions such as Dillon Fulwood's notable block, Reinhardt struggled to close the eight-point halftime gap. The game hovered around the eight-to-ten-point lead for most of the second half. Indiana East had its largest lead of twenty-two points about midway through the second half, but the Eagles chipped away at the lead behind the play of guards AJ Shaw and Arael Jones. AJ Shaw led the Eagles in the second half, scoring 16 of his 21 total points to match Fisher for the team lead.  Jones had an impressive 14-point game to go along with 2 assists.  He has a great start to his freshman basketball season and shows a great future for the Eagles.

Reinhardt would not be able to catch the Red Wolves the remainder of the game despite great efforts, pulling within six points.  Indiana East ended the game with an 88-80 road win, giving the Eagles their fifth loss of the season. Despite the loss, Reinhardt finally showed signs of what they can do as a young team.  Star forward Tee Williams, who has been sidelined for the past few games, is expected to return soon, which should add some firepower to the young Eagles.  Players are starting to take form and learn their roles on the team as they continue to improve game to game.

The Eagles will have another busy week of basketball as they travel to Jacksonville, Alabama, on Monday morning to face NCAA Division One opponent Jacksonville State University Gamecocks at 11 am (exhibition game).  The game will be streamed live on ESPN 3.  After this, Reinhardt will start their AAC schedule as it welcomes the Bulldogs of Tennessee Wesleyan to town on Wednesday evening.  The week will end with a 5 pm tipoff with Milligan University on Saturday.

photo courtesy of Nicole Seitz photography