WALESKA, Ga.— The Montreat men's basketball team passed through Waleska, Ga. Saturday afternoon for an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) battle with the Reinhardt University Eagles. In a contest between two squads tied in the conference standings, the hosts utilized shooting disparities from beyond the arc and at the free-throw line to fly past the Cavaliers, 79-71. With the defeat, the visitors fell to 13-13 (10-12 AAC).
 
In a back-and-forth half that featured eight ties, Reinhardt (12-13, 11-11 AAC) started off hot from 3-point range, draining five of its initial 10 tries from deep to hold a 15-12 lead over the Cavs midway through the opening frame; however, as the 3-point shooting cooled off, Montreat capitalized to seize its first lead of the afternoon.
 
An Elochukwu Eze free throw kicked off an 8-0 run over 3:06 in which the Cavaliers moved ahead by five points. Gabriel Rivera evened the score at 15, and CamRon Sias put the visitors in front with a pair of free throws. Rivera then capped off the spurt with a triple as Montreat moved ahead, 20-15, with 7:01 remaining in the period.
 
While the Cavs didn't trail in the first half after taking the lead, they couldn't pull away either. RU answered a trio of Montreat scores down the stretch, knotting the contest at 30 just 11 seconds prior to halftime.
 
The Eagles went 7-for-18 (38.9 percent) from beyond the arc through 20 minutes, but they made merely one of six 2-point attempts, dropping their overall shooting percentage to 33.3 (8-24 FG). Montreat connected on 40.7 percent (11-27 FG) of its shots but only three of its 10 3-point efforts. The Cavaliers dominated the rebounding battle (23-11) and paint scoring (12-2) during the first half. Rivera led all players at the intermission with seven points, and eight different Cavs got onto the scoresheet in the period. Sias hauled in a half-high seven boards.
 
Sias and Barnwell buckets canceled out an early RU 3-pointer in the second half's opening 70 seconds, but the Eagles' ninth triple of the game gave them the lead, 36-34, one they never relinquished.
 
Rivera kept the Cavaliers within arm's length midway through the half via his 7-for-8 start from the field. Sias' putback also cut the deficit to 51-49 with 9:31 left, ending a 4-minute field goal drought.
 
Despite the efforts, Reinhardt managed to stay in front of the visitors. The Eagles recorded dunks on three consecutive makes during the second half, and a 6-0 span with all six points coming from the charity stripe put the hosts up double digits for the first time with 3:59 to go (65-55).
 
RU's 11^th 3-point basket of the contest grew the lead out to 11 (68-57), and the home side salted the game away at the free-throw line. Fifteen of the Eagles' final 20 points came from the stripe, and they collected a 79-71 senior day win as a result.
 
Montreat ended the game with a slightly higher overall shooting percentage (40.3 to 39.2), but Reinhardt made five more triples (11-6) and finished nearly 13 percentage points higher from deep (37.9 to 25.0). RU also registered more free-throw makes (28) than the Cavs attempted across 40 minutes (22). The Eagles went to the line 42 times, helping them overcome a 45-30 rebounding advantage that favored the visitors.
 
Rivera led the Cavaliers in scoring with 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting (61.5 percent), while both Tyler Murray and Jamiel Wright poured in 10 points. Sias fell one point shy of his first double-double as he paced all players with a career-high 10 rebounds. Manginello notched a team-best three assists in the defeat.
 
The Montreat men's basketball team plays its final road game of the 2023-24 regular season on Wednesday versus Johnson University (Tenn.). Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Knoxville, Tenn.