The Eagles opened the season Monday night as they hosted Abbeville in the ACA Thanksgiving Tournament. The year’s first game was the latest start of a season since 2005. Coach Jim Sanderson coached his first game as the head man at Alabama Christian.
Mac Moorer gave ACA its only lead of the game with a first-quarter trey, but Abbeville responded quickly. Although the game was close most of the night, the visiting Panthers never trailed after they regained the lead midway through the opening period. The Eagles trailed 7-14 after one quarter. Devin Moseley sparked the offense with back-to-back threes to cut the lead to 17-22 in the second, but Abbeville scored the last two buckets of the quarter to take a 26-17 lead into the locker room.
Christian Snipes tips the season off against Abbeville.
ACA leaned heavily on Christian Snipes in the second half as he scored 14 of the team’s 28 points over the final two quarters. Abbeville had an answer for everything ACA threw at them and extended the lead to thirteen points at the end of the third. The Panthers scored six points in the final 30 seconds to make the score look worse than it really was. Abbeville defeated the Eagles 62-45.
Tyree Saadiq drives to the bucket for two.
Christian Snipes led the team with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Mac Moorer had 11 points and two steals while Devin Moseley had 10 points, three rebounds and two steals. Tyree Saadiq had a team-high six assists and he and Sam Davidson both had three steals.
Tuesday, ACA faced Sipsey Valley in the second game of the tournament. Both teams struggled offensively throughout the contest. The Eagles scored the first five points of the game as Devin Moseley and Conner Mark both connected from the field. Neither team scored over the next two and a half minutes, but Sipsey Valley scored nine points over the final 3:45 of the period to take a 9-5 lead into the second quarter. The Bears held a 17-9 lead late in the half, but Moseley and Christian Snipes both scored to cut the lead to four at intermission.
Devin Moseley battles for the ball with a Sipsey Valley player.
The second half began with another two-and-a-half-minute scoring drought for both teams before Tyree Saadiq scored to cut the Bear’s lead to two points. Christian Snipes gave the lead back to ACA late in the third with an offensive rebound and a free throw after the bucket for a 23-21 lead. Both teams traded scores to finish the period as Alabama Christian led by two after three. In the fourth, the offense went cold and Sipsey Valley took advantage with a 15-2 run for their biggest lead of the night with 1:19 left. Sam Davidson and Snipes added late scores, but the visiting Bears won the game 40-31.
Sam Davidson watches the Sipsey Valley ball handler.
Christian Snipes led the team with 13 points and added six rebounds followed by Devin Moseley with eight points and a team-high ten boards. Conner Mark and Mac Moorer both scored three while Tyree Saadiq and Sam Davidson both scored two points. Saadiq led the squad with five assists and two steals.