Eagles Fight Hard and Seek Improvement from Losses

On Friday January 22, the Emmaus Eagles traveled to Missouri to face off against Central Christian College of the Bible. On Saturday January 23, they played St. Louis Christian.

The CCCB game would be one of the Eagles' hardest fought games. At times resembling a football game, Emmaus came out playing solid basketball for most of the first half. Emmaus would take an early lead and stretch it to double digits. After a timeout from CCCB, the Saints slowly clawed their way back into the game. With Caleb Ruter having to exit for a bit with an ankle injury, the rest of the Eagles were unprepared for such a physical game. Despite this, Emmaus would enter the locker room at half up 40-39. 

Ruter would return and continue his hot streak, going 12-20 from the field, including 6-10 from the 3 point line. Both Skyler Sandry and Nathaniel Glidewell provided solid support with both reaching double digits in scoring. However, the physicality of the game along with the inexperience of the team would be a major factor in the end result of an 82-74 loss.

Coach Wilkerson had this to say: "Our guys showed the fight and heart tonight that has been missing in games past. This was one of the most physical games I have ever seen (in my times of  playing and coaching), and I was so proud of them for keeping their cool throughout the entire game. I look forward to playing CCCB at home in a couple of weeks and if the guys play with the same energy and drive, I would anticipate a different end result."

Saturday's game was a tough one too, as most of the Eagles' were worn out from the previous night's game. Caleb Ruter went down early from the same ankle injury and would not return. Emmaus fought hard throughout the whole game but the weariness was evident as they were a step slow on defense and struggled to get anything going on offense. They would fall 73-62. "To their credit, St. Louis is much improved from years past and they deserved to win this game," Coach Wilkerson said. "We have to continue to look to improve in several ways, including the ability to push through tiredness, especially as tournament time approaches. I know our team will respond in the coming week."