Eagles Come Up Short in Second Half Comeback at Tennessee Wesleyan
Athens, TN - Reinhardt Men's Basketball lost a close one on the road at Tennessee Wesleyan in a midweek Appalachian Athletic Conference game, 88-83. The Eagles fought their way back into the game in the second half, trimming at twenty point Bulldog lead to just three points in the final minute.
Tee Williams and Derrick Brown both dropped in 24 points each to help the Eagles stay close in what looked to be a blowout game at the halftime break. The game was tied early in the first half before Tennessee Wesleyan converted on a few Eagles' turnovers to extend the lead to double-digits halfway through the first half. The Bulldog lead hovered around ten to twelve points a majority of the first half, but they pushed the lead out to eighteen in the final minutes.
Williams and Brown did most of their damage to the Bulldog's defense in the second half, where Williams had 16 points, and Brown added 18 points. It was a tremendous effort by these two to keep the Eagles within striking distance. Jackson Sousa had two three-pointers in the second half to help the Eagles as well. He was 3 for 7 from the three-point line and was the team leader in three-pointers for the game. Sousa ended the game in double figures with 11 total.
Nekhi Fisher was just shy of double-figure scoring with 9 points and Arael Jones added 7 points. Both were key pieces helping Brown and Williams in the comeback effort.
Reinhardt shot the ball well inside the three-point arc at nearly 49%, but their three-point shooting (33%) and free-throw percentage (62%) were somewhat low, which ultimately hurt them in the end.
The Eagles' record now sits at 5-10 overall, and they are even 4-4 in conference play midway through the season. They are in the middle of the pack in the AAC standings, but could easily move to the upper third with a few wins. They will have a chance to do that this Saturday as the Koalas from Columbia College come to Waleska for the weekend AAC matchup. The game is set to start around 4 pm.
