Eagles Early Season Woes Continue

Barbourville, KY - The season is early, but the injury bug has caught the Eagles with only five games in. The Eagles would fall to 1-4 on the season dropping another road game in the AAC. This time, it was with the Bulldogs of Union College which has won the league the past few years, however, the Eagles did split with their last regular season. This game would end with a final score of 92-76. 

Starters and experienced team leaders Greg Hobbs and Jalin Wimberly did not get to play in this one as both are healing some injuries that occurred in the previous games. Hopefully, these two will be back soon to bolster the lineup for the Eagles and get them back on the winning track.

The Eagles had three players in double figures this game with Nate Louis leading the way with 23 points. Tyler Smith chipped in 13 points and Antonio Spencer had a good second half scoring 18 points in the game. Tafari Thomas would lead the way in rebounds again pulling down 8 boards in the game, however, this is a little lower than his per-game average.

In the first half, the Eagles would keep the game close as they were leading with five minutes into the game the teams were tied at 20 each halfway through the first half. The remainder of the first half would see the Eagles build a small six-point lead on a layup by Jamison Syphore. Syphore would end up with 7 points and 4 rebounds in the game.

The Bulldogs would work their way back into the game and take a small 3-point lead with just a few minutes left in the first half. The game would go into halftime with Union narrowly leading the Eagles 38-35.

Early in the first few minutes of the second half, the Eagles would start digging a hole that would last the remainder of the game. A few costly turnovers would allow the Bulldogs to get out to a fast nine-point lead. By the thirteen-minute mark in the second half, Union had pulled out to a sixteen-point lead and this would be too much for the Eagles to overcome.  They did keep trying to get the lead cut to single digits with just ten minutes left in the game, however, Union would build the score right back getting an 18-point lead at one point in the last five minutes. The lead would stay in the 9 to 16-point range until time ran out.

With the two experienced players out in the game, the Eagles had an uphill battle going into the game with the AAC preseason-ranked #1 Union Bulldogs. Look for Wimberly and Hobbs to get healthy over the next few games and the team will start the path of winning games. The team is still young in places and they are still trying to gel with all the new faces stepping into the team.

The Eagles will have a busy week this upcoming week three games over five days. The first two are home games with Truett McConnel coming in on Tuesday evening and St. Andrews visiting on Friday. On Saturday, the Eagles will be traveling to Johnson (TN) with a game with the Royals.