Eagles Honor a Talented Senior Class with Blowout Win

David Finney | photo by Angel Cornista

Waleska, GA - The basketball division of the athletic department at Reinhardt University is very busy right now.  Lots of pieces are moving in all directions as the team finished up its season on Saturday with a blowout win against St. Andrews. In this article, we will cover the game, but in addition to this, there is valuable information on the upcoming AAC Tournament and the possibility of the NAIA National Tournament.

For the game, the Senior players were given recognition by Coach Newton for their time and service given to the Men's Basketball Program and to Reinhardt University. The players received their jerseys framed and those that reached certain statistic milestones received a ball with their name and the record that they reached. This is a talented group of players that have given a lot of entertainment and enjoyment to the fans of Reinhardt and they will be missed. In addition to being honored before the game, each was given the starting spots for the Eagles' final regular-season game. 

Keyshaun Street, Kristian Collins, Jordan Wright, Josh Press, and Marcus Kirkland all got the start for the Eagles and each did a tremendous job.  They were one point away from having all double-figure scoring in the starting five.  Jordan Wright would lead all Eagle scorers with 17 points. Marcus Kirkland would get a double-double for his last regular-season game for the Eagles scoring 13 points and pulling down 10 rebounds.

The first half started off close as both teams traded leads for the first five minutes. Wright's three-pointer at the fifteen-minute mark gave the Eagles a 15-11 lead which was followed by a Tyler Smith dunk, however, the Knights would still hang around for the first fifteen minutes of the half. Jalin Wimberly's layup around the five-minute mark gave the Eagles a nine-point lead. The lead would expand some more as Nate Louis and Josh Press hit two back-to-back three-pointers. When there was one minute left in the first half, the lead for the Reinhardt had extended to twenty points and the Eagles never looked back. The score at the half was 48-28 and the Eagles were on track to get in the ninety-point range.

In the second half, everyone would get into the scoring act extending the lead to thirty points. Kristian Collins was hitting his three-pointers and Keyshaun Street was running the floor scoring layups. Malachi Gayle got a dunk giving the Eagles a 72-35 lead.  The game was over at this point and the guys could cruise and enjoy their final regular-season game before the conference tournament starts. The final score was 97-71 and this caps off a successful 20-10 record.

The AAC Tournament and Beyond…

The AAC Tournament pairings were released on Saturday evening and the Eagles knew that they would have a bye in the first round.  They will have to wait on Monday's results before they know who their opponent will be.  They do know that it will either be #11 Johnson or #6 Columbia Internation (CIU). Both are winnable games for the Eagles, but it is the time of year where you cannot have any slip-ups or bad games.  It is unforgiving and once you lose - you are out of the tournament (AAC). If the Eagles win, then they will have an automatic invite to the NAIA National Tournament. There is a chance that Reinhardt can get an at-large bid for the NAIA National Tournament, but the safest way is to just win the AAC Tourney.

The Eagles will be playing in Kingsport, TN on Thursday at 5:15 pm. Below are the links for the tournament site with ticket information and live streaming. The Tournament is scheduled for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

AAC Tournament Site

AAC Tournament Live Stream