Eagles Honor a Great Class of Seniors in Final Home Game of 2023!
Waleska, GA - The Eagles poured it on the visiting Knights of Kentucky Christian surpassing the century mark and winning 117-76! It was Senior Night for the Eagles and they have a great group of guys graduating that can really play some basketball. They showed what they can do offensively when everything is going right.
The Eagles didn't waste any time getting out to a strong lead and showing their force and power to Kentucky Christian. Reinhardt is battling for the second position in the AAC standings, which is extremely tight with the teams currently sitting at the 2-7 spots. As of tonight, the AAC has six teams (including the Eagles) that are tied for the second position. Union has wrapped up the regular season conference title and has an automatic berth into the NAIA National Tournament whether they win or lose in the AAC Tournament next week. The Eagles are hoping to get the #2 spot and try to battle their way into the NAIA Tournament.
Jalin Wimberly led all Eagles in scoring getting 21 points on 7 for 11 from the field. Tafari Thomas was not far behind 19 points on 8-10 shooting. Thomas also had 10 rebounds and 6 assists making him just four assists short of getting a triple-double.
The Eagles had six players in double figures including Wimberly and Thomas. Joining them and scoring 10 points each were Malachi Gayle, Nate Louis, Greg Hobbs, and Jaseson Syphore. Antonio Spencer was just outside with 8 points, but he had a great game with his strong presence in the middle. Spencer started off the game with a thundering, throw-down dunk from an oop pass from Thomas.
The Eagles controlled the game from start to finish and left little doubt about who was going to win the game. Reinhardt will play their final regular season game this Saturday at Tennessee Wesleyan which is also battling for the number two spot in the standings. The Eagles won convincingly the last time they met with the home game at Reinhardt, but road wins are hard to come by in the AAC. It will be a great game with both teams playing great basketball right now. The game is set for Saturday at 4 pm.
The AAC will release the tournament schedule after all games are played on Saturday. The tournament is scheduled to start on Wednesday of next week with the "play-in" games.