Eagles Work Together, Cruise to Easy Victory 70-34

Dubuque, IA — Emmaus Eagles' basketball coach, Luke Wilkerson, will tell you that he did not plan the first two games this way. After facing the reigning national champions, the Crossroads College Knights, earlier in the week, the Eagles took the floor on Saturday, to take on the runner-up in last year's national tournament, the St. Louis Soldiers. "The scheduling usually gets done well in advance of the tournament," Coach Wilkerson said. "Today was the first time I realized it." Assistant Coach Joel Smith was joking that Emmaus was trying to make a statement by starting their season facing off against the top two teams from last year in their first two games. However, the Eagles may have done just that in a dominate performance that resulted in a 70-34 win, putting them at 2-0. Similar to the game against Crossroads, Emmaus jumped out to a quick lead and went into the half leading 35-14. However, unlike the previous game, Emmaus kept it going in the second half and matched their first half score of 35, while only allowing 20.

"It was nice to see that, although St. Louis was not quite the team they were last year, our men did not let down or play less than they are capable of." Coach Wilkerson added. "Give St. Louis credit: They came off of a tough game the night before, had an early morning drive, and still managed to get 34 points on us. I am sure they will be much improved when we play them again next semester." The Eagles had a balanced attack with every player scoring except one; Caleb Ruter leading the way with 19. 

Emmaus' next game is Friday, November 14th. They will head down to Ankeny, IA and play Manhattan Christian College at the neutral site of Faith Baptist Bible College.