Rhema Eagles Finish Second in ACCA Tournament, Third in CCNIT Tournament
Team Accomplishes Much This Year
The No. 3-seeded Rhema Eagles finished second to No. 1 seed Arlington Baptist College in the ACCA tournament championship game March 8. During the three-day tournament, held in Joplin, Missouri, the Eagles knocked out No. 7 seed Ozark Christian College and No. 6 seed Faith Baptist College to reach the title game. Though the Rhema Eagles nabbed the second-place trophy, Rhema Coach Perry Shockley said it was an honor for his team to reach the big game.
"Sometimes you finish second and you feel regret. But you're in the championship game. So everybody else is outside watching [you] and you're still playing. Obviously, you want to win the championship. The team we played was the number-one seed. They were the best. We had beaten them once during the year, and we could have beaten them again, but we really had to play well and shoot well. And we just came up short," said coach Perry.
The Rhema Eagles (1-7) earned their first season win on December 13, overcoming one of the top schools in the ACCA conference, Arlington Baptist College. The Eagles held the Patriots' best shooter, Raphael Garcia, to eight points. They outscored Arlington 31 to 20 in points off the bench. This brought them an impressive 59-58 victory at Rhema's Ninowski Recreation Center.