Pensacola, FL — The Eagles battled back from a 35-27 halftime deficit to take the lead on the road, but were unable to hold onto the lead late in the ball game, losing 82-76 to Trinity Baptist College. The loss drops the Eagles to 5-19 on the season and lowers their conference record to 3-6.

"We had some lows tonight and just weren't able to overcome them." Head Coach Mark Goetsch would go on to say, "We just didn't have enough left in the tank to overcome a late 6-point deficit."

After traveling for nearly six hours on Tuesday, the team would get off to a bit of a slow start in the 1st half. Despite an early bucket by Eagles guard Ian Johnson, the Eagles would fail to slow down Trinity Baptist on offense. Trinity Baptist opened the game on an 18-4 run behind the guard play of Marquis Duncanson and Marquel Perry, who combined for 11 points in the early going.

The Eagles began to claw their way back into the ball game behind a strong 1^st half performance by Andrew Thomas. Thomas, who scored 7 of his season-high 19 points in the 1^st half, helped the Eagles cut into their deficit. He would convert an and-one opportunity with 49 seconds remaining in the half to cut the deficit to just 8 points. At the half, the Eagles trailed 35-27.

"I told the guys at the half that we needed to look to drive to the basket more in the 2nd half," Coach Mark Goetsch said after the game. "We were taking too much time analyzing a play instead of letting the opportunities just come to us. The coaching staff told them to focus more on creating better opportunities in the 2nd half."

The Eagles opened the 2nd half on a 12-0 run to regain the lead. After trailing for nearly the entire 1st half, the Eagles hoped to carry their run to a victory. The Eagles would hold the lead until 15 minutes remaining in the ball game when Trinity Baptist guard Jykayle Walker hit a three pointer to give his team a 2-point advantage.

The two teams traded the lead over the next 10 minutes of the 2^nd half. Seth Crane's layup with 10 minutes remaining gave the Eagles a 5-point advantage, their largest of the ball game. Trinity Baptist soon answered and took control of the game down the stretch. Despite their best efforts, the Eagles were unable to come away with an important conference victory, losing 82-76 to Trinity Baptist College.

Asked after the game about what his team could improve upon, Head Coach Mark Goetsch responded, "Heading into our final regular season game, we really need to focus on getting better defensively. We need to be able to make defensive stops in big situations against teams like Trinity Baptist."

Andrew Thomas finished the game with a season-high 19 points in the Eagles loss. Four Eagles athletes finished the ball game with double-digit scoring – Thomas (19), Clay (11), Hallums (10), and Johnson (10). The Eagles final regular season game will be at home on Saturday night when they take on Toccoa Falls College at 7:30 p.m. in the Arlin R. Horton Sports Center Arena.