Early Deficit has Eagles Clawing Their Way Back in the Second Half

Lebanon, TN - For the second game in a row, the Eagles had to play catch up after letting the opponent jump out to an early lead. The Eagles were on the road Tuesday evening for another tough opponent in the Phoenix of Cumberland University. The Phoenix would come out playing tough defense on the Eagles making it tough to get shots up. The Eagles had several turnovers early because of the defense by Cumberland and the early lead would get extended to fifteen points.

Jalin Wimberly would lead the way for the Eagles in this one and his running mate - Tyler Smith - was right there with him on scoring just like in game one. Wimberly's field goal percentage was much better in this game going 8 for 12, but he still had some struggles shooting behind the arc shooting 1 for 5.  Wimberly would finish the game with 21 points and Smith would have 17. 

Overall, the Eagles' shooting percentage was better than their opponents in this game, however, the Phoenix did get up 10 more shots in the game which made the difference in the game.

Despite being down in the first half, the Eagles showed once again that you cannot keep them down and they are able to score quickly to get right back into games. The remaining time in the first half was aimed at cutting the deficit before the halftime break. Nate Louis again added a spark off the bench getting 14 points in the game on 4 for 7 shooting from the field and 2 for 4 from behind the arc. In addition to this, Louis went 3 for 4 from the free-throw line. He had big moments in the first-half comeback and had solid play in the second-half battle. 

The fifteen-point lead would come around six minutes left in the half and from that point on - the Eagles would start to get things going and slowly chip away at the early lead. Louis hit a big three-pointer with about two minutes remaining in the first half to get the lead to just nine points. The Eagles would go into halftime with some confidence knowing that cut the fifteen-point lead to just six.

Early in the second half, Antonio Spencer made a tip-in basket followed by a three-pointer by Tyler Smith which cut the lead to just one point around the nineteen-minute mark. The Eagles would eventually go up by one point on Jalin Wimberly's free throw43-42. This would be Reinhardt's first lead of the game. The game would get into a groove at this point and the teams would stay within 2 to 4 points of each other - but the Phoenix were able to get a nine-point lead with just seven minutes remaining in the game. The Eagles would have to battle back once more just like the first half, but this time they did not have as much time remaining in the game. 

The final moments of the second half would see the Eagles cut the lead to just three points on Wimberly's layup with just thirty seconds remaining. This would be the closest the Eagles would get on the road in Tennessee. The comeback kids from game one - Jamison Syphore and Tucker Lowe -  would again try to hit a few big three-pointers, but it was not their night and both shots rimmed out. The Eagles would have to take another defeat on this early season matchup losing 76-71. The Eagles will have to regroup and focus on cutting out the mistakes of turning the ball over and getting their field goal percentage up some.

Tafari Thomas and Antonio Spencer were the leading rebounders in this game pulling down 6 boards each. Thomas added 9 points to the final and Spencer ended up with 6 points to go with his rebounds.

The Eagles will be back in action on Saturday with a conference matchup against Milligan. Tune into www.reinhardteagles.com for the most up-to-date sports information.