The Eagles were unable to pull off a victory on the road against NCAA DII opponent North Greenville University, losing by a score of 94-53. This matchup was the first of seven games the Eagles will play on the road over the next two weeks.

The Crusaders jumped out to a big lead early on in the first half, leading 19-4 after just 4 minutes of play. North Greenville University guard Daniel Burchette led the way for the Crusaders with 8 points early on in the game.

The Eagles struggled to find the basket early in contest. After 10 minutes of play, the Eagles found themselves trailing 31-16. The Eagles tried to chip away at the lead that North Greenville University had built but were unable to slow down a Crusaders offense that is averaging nearly 73 points per game on the season.

Freshman John Clay provided some excitement at the end of the half by draining a three-pointer as time expired to narrow the deficit to 49-29. Sophomore forward Dakota Pratt led the way for the Eagles in the first half with 9 points while Ian Johnson and Alex Dickerman chipped in four points apiece.

At halftime, Head Coach Mark Goetsch said, "Our goal was to break the contest up into eight different 5-minute games. We wanted to win several of those throughout the contest. In the first half, we were able to win two of those segments but performed poorly in the other two. We need to continue to minimize those bad stretches."

Heading into the 2nd half, the Eagles looked to cut into the 20-point halftime lead that North Greenville University had built. Four early points by senior Marlon Gardner helped narrow the deficit to 18 points with 18 minutes remaining in the contest. Despite the quick start, this would be the closest the Eagles would come the rest of the evening.

North Greenville University, led by Daniel Burchette's 27 points, would quickly widen the lead throughout the remainder of the 2nd half. The Crusaders saw four players score in double digits in the contest and shot 53% from the field.

The Eagles would fall by a score of 94-53. Dakota Pratt led the way for the Eagles with 15 points and 5 rebounds on the night. The Eagles struggled to shoot the ball, shooting just 32% from the field. Despite an early season turnover problem, the Eagles were able to turn the ball just 15 times, which was well below their season average.

Asked after the game what the team would look to improve on, Coach Mark Goetsch responded, "We struggled to stop the dribble-drive against North Greenville's guards. This led to several open three pointers. If we want to compete against a team like the Crusaders, we need to work to deny the dribble-drive in order to give our guards a chance on the perimeter."

With the loss, the Eagles fall to 2-9 on the season. The Eagles next game will be against NCCAA DI opponent Columbia International University tonight at 6:00 pm CT in Columbia, SC.