Eagles Win Big on the Road at Tennesee Wesleyan

David FInney | photo by G-ROX PHOTOGRAPHY

Athens, TN - The Eagles are to the point in their schedule where each game matters just a little more as they try to work their way to the top of the conference standings.  There is no doubt that Coach Newton has his crew playing at a high level right now and they appear to be one of the top teams in the AAC, however, you have to take one game at a time and knock off the opponent in front of you. They did just this on Tuesday evening while visiting Tennessee Wesleyan for a midweek conference matchup. The Eagles would come away with a decisive 99-79 win.

Tyler Smith and Greg Hobbs would get the Eagles going in this one scoring two back-to-back layups, however, it would be Tennessee Wesleyan that would come out and take an early 10-5 lead in the first five minutes of play. Kristian Collins and Nate Louis would get the Eagles right back level hitting a three-pointer and jump shot. The three-ball would be big for the Eagles in the game and Collins would be a major contributor shooting them. Collins has deep range and is never afraid to get his shot off. 

The Bulldogs would continue to have the lead through the first ten minutes of the first half despite the good shooting by the Eagles. Marcus Kirkland and Jalin Wimberly were doing the work down low scoring on layups and ripping down rebounds. Marcus Kirkland would have a double-double on the game with 10 points and 10 rebounds.  Kirkland is a hard worker during Eagles games and is not afraid to do the dirty work getting difficult baskets and outworking the other team for a rebound. 

The Eagles would finally get their first lead of the ballgame around the seven-minute mark on a three-pointer by Jalin Wimberly. He would have another three-pointer moments later and this would start a run for the Eagles where they began to pull away. When Reinhardt starts running and hitting their shots, they can make big things happen and this can be devastating to the opponent. The lead in the first half would go to nine points for the Eagles, however, Tennessee Wesleyan was able to get the lead down to five at the half, 41-36.

Wimberly would get a couple of layups to start the game followed by another layup by Tyler Smith. This opened the lead back up to eight points and then the Kristian Collins Show started. Collins hit two back-to-back three-pointers pushing the Eagles' lead to ten points. 

The Bulldogs were able to get the lead back down to four points around the twelve-minute mark, however, a layup by Tafari Thomas and a three-pointer by Keyshaun Street would get the lead back to ten quickly. From the midway point of the second half, it seemed that every shot the Eagles took was going in. They were able to put up 58 points in the second half which is an incredible accomplishment. All Eagles that got in the game were contributing as the lead continued to grow.  Tennessee Wesleyan was able to get the lead to eight at one point, but Collins' long-range threes got the lead back to fifteen points. The Eagles were able to keep this lead for the remainder of the game and walked away with a dominating victory on the road, 99-79.

Kristian Collins led the Eagles in scoring with 26 points and 5 for 5 behind the three-point line. Jalin Wimberly would add 18 points and Marcus Kirkland and Tafari Thomas would add 10 points and 13 points respectively coming off the bench. It was a great effort by the Eagles as they push their way to #3 in the AAC standings.

Reinhardt will be back in action with Johnson (TN) on Thursday afternoon and again on Saturday afternoon with a matchup with Columbia International - both home games! Come out and watch this high-flying, fast-paced team as the regular season winds down.