Eastern Boys lose second in a row in tight contest with Belpre
By: Reagan Neal
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Belpre, OH (WOUB) – The 1-1 Eastern Eagles travelled to Belpre to take on the 1-0 Golden Eagles. Eastern came into their third game of the season after scoring 106 for a win against River Valley. Their second game against Nelsonville-York was close but Eastern lost 68-56. For the Golden Eagles, their one and only game this season was a close 69-63 win against Alexander.
The match started off efficiently for Eastern. They quickly obtained an 11-3 lead halfway into the first quarter. Their offense operated with fluidity. It didn’t take long for Junior Colton Lloyd to get going. He was an early option for Eastern and gave them a good start.
It was long before Belpre answered. Their defense started to rebound, and points followed. The Golden Eagles starting point guard, sophomore Malik Currie got comfortable just at the beginning of the second quarter. Dishing his teammates open looks.
As the second quarter started winding down Belpre closed the scoring gap. Finishing the first half tied at 32.
The third quarter was favoring Belpre. They were taking better shots and cleaning up on defense. Senior guard Nasaih Spencer turned on the jets in the second half. With a very physical matchup, Spencer had to hustle for his points. Creating holes in the defense a lot for more of the team to get involved.
By the fourth quarter, Belpre had established a comfortable 15-point lead. With three minutes left in the fourth they led 70-51. Rebounding the basketball was something that this Belpre team dominated in. Ultimately, Belpre was hustling out there. Going after loose balls, diving for rebounds, and staying locked on defense made it hard for Eastern to answer back.
Eastern shrunk Belpre’s lead 10 with just under 30 seconds left in fourth quarter. The Eastern Eagles fell short in fourth quarter with a final score of 74-62.