Men's basketball survives Reinhardt rally, now 11-0 in AAC

WALESKA, Ga. - Though the Union men's basketball team never trailed in a Thursday road tilt at Reinhardt, the game proved to be anything but easy.

After Union scored the first 11 points of the game, the Eagles chipped away all night and even had two shots to win at the end, but the 12th-ranked Bulldogs made enough plays to escape with a hard-fought 89-87 win to improve to 11-0 in Appalachian Athletic Conference play.

Markelo Sullivan scored the first two of his game-best 25 points on Union's first possession, and the Bulldogs looked to be headed into cruise control mode, as the lead stretched to 11-0 on a Markelle Turner free throw 3 minutes and 40 seconds into the game.

But things wouldn't be so comfortable. The Eagles got within a point with just under nine minutes to play in the first half and made the Bulldogs sweat the rest of the way.

The lead climbed back to 11, 76-65, on a Markelle Turner 3-pointer with 8:53 to play in the second half, only for the Eagles to rally within a point on three separate occasions and even have a chance to win the game twice in the closing seconds.

Luckily for Union, neither attempt was successful. Down 88-87, Jalin Wimberly failed to connect on a go-ahead 3 attempt with four seconds left. After grabbing the rebound, Will Bailey was fouled and connected on 1-of-2 free throw tries, giving Reinhardt one last chance to win, only for a second Wimberly triple try to miss at the buzzer, keeping Union perfect in league play.

Four Union starters scored in double figures, while all five members of the starting lineup recorded at least five rebounds. Sullivan led all players with eight boards.

Now 13-1 overall, the Bulldogs haven't lost an AAC game since Feb. 3 of last season. They hope to keep that streak going in a 6 p.m. road game against Milligan Monday. The game was moved after originally being scheduled to play on Dec. 2.