Eagles Basketball vs. Bob Jones University (L 58–63)

After a tough, near buzzer-beater loss to BJU two weeks ago, the Eagles wanted their rematch in ‘The Nest’ against the BJU Bruins. Similar to their first game of the season, the scoring was kept below 70 on both sides and it was a battle from start to finish. Unfortunately, it was the Bruins who came out on top 63-58 over the Eagles.
 
With a quick 5-0 start to the game, the electricity of the crowd was contagious from the opening tip. As the Eagles opened the game on a 7-1 run in the first four minutes of play, the Bruins had to answer. With the lead being held by the Eagles for the first ten minutes of the game, their lead never grew larger than six. After conceding the lead to the Bruins the Eagles immediately regained the lead the very next possession. After two made free throws by the Bruins with 8:47 left in the first half, the Bruins regained the lead and held it for the remainder of the half. With the lead growing as large as eight, the Eagles entered the halftime break on the heels of a 28-35 deficit to the #5 voted team in the nation.
 
With a seven-point lead stretched to nine in the first five minutes of the second half, the Eagles knew they had to battle back into this rivalry game. With a strong 9-0 run, led by Brandtley Koske‘s back-to-back threes, the Eagles came storming back and tied the game 41-41 with 12:30 left in the game. After a battle for a loose ball led to free throws and a possession by the Bruins, BJU converted on both free throws and knocked down their fifth three-pointer of the game to regain the lead 46-41. But the Eagles never gave up, they came back once again and regained the lead 47-46 with just under ten minutes to play in the game. But after a few clutch buckets and back-to-back turnovers, the Bruins extended their lead to 10 points with just under 6 minutes remaining. Although the Eagles battled, the game resulted in a 58-63 loss to the Bruins. With 9 different players scoring and 15 total bench points, the Eagles’ offense was evenly spread throughout their 40-minute battle.