Eagles Come Up Short in Final Seconds at Tennessee Southern

photo by G-Rox Photography, Greg Spell

Pulaski, TN - The Eagles were on the road against Tennessee Southern coming off a long Christmas Break. Although playing the FireHawks closely the entire game, the Eagles would come up just short of getting their overall season record back to five hundred. 

Tafari Thomas tied the game twice in the last two minutes at 67 and then 69 with just thirty seconds left in the game, but it was the FireHawks that would get a final look at the basketball and convert on a three-pointer putting them up 72-69 with just two seconds remaining. The Eagles still had a slim chance to get one last desperation shot up in the final two seconds, but they would end up losing the ball and creating a foul to put the FireHawks at the line with just a second remaining. Tennessee Southern converted the free throws giving them the 74-69 home win.

Tafari Thomas would lead the way for the Eagles scoring 20 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. Jalin Wimberly was right there with Thomas in scoring putting up 17 points and scoring five of six from the free-throw line. Wimberly also had 7 rebounds just trailing Thomas on the boards.

Nate Louis was the other Eagle in double-figure scoring 10 points. Greg Hobbs had another solid game coming up just short of double-figure scoring with 9 points. Hobbs added 3 assists, 3 steals, and 6 rebounds at the point guard spot where he does a lot of the "dirty work" for the Eagles and keeps the ship afloat. 

The Eagles went to the halftime break trailing Tennessee Southern 33-32. The game would stay close the entire time, but the FireHawks always had the slight lead throughout the second half that the Eagles were chasing. The Eagles were always in striking distance and tied the game on Thomas' dunk assisted by Hobbs at the two-minute mark in the second half. For the remainder of the game, the game would stay tied most of the way until the final few seconds.

The Eagles will have to take this narrow loss and build on it for the second half of the season that is starting back next Thursday when the team faces a strong Union Bulldog team at the Brown Athletic Center. Union is leading the AAC currently, but the Eagles were able to get a win against the Bulldogs last year and they will look to do the same next week.