The Goshen Eagles fell to Brantley last night in Straughn 81-69, and the Eagles are hoping they learned from their mistakes in the loss.

The Eagles faced Brantley in the first round of the Straughn Christmas Shootout.

The Eagles jumped out to a 21-point lead in the first quarter, but keeping the lead became a difficult task when faced with strong pressure from the Bulldogs.

“We were leading 23-2 after the first quarter, and turnovers killed us,” Eagles head coach Jonathon Deveridge said.

The Bulldogs ripped off a 22-11 run in the second quarter that diminished the Eagles lead to just 10 at the half.

The Eagles clung to the double-digit lead, but Brantley forced turnovers with full court pressure.

The Bulldogs managed to gain the lead in the second half and never looked back.

“It was a tale of two halves,” Deveridge said. “They came back and went up on us.”

Tyrese Wingard led the team with 25 points on the night.

Antwan Boswell added 24 more points in the contest.

“I told my guys after the game that if I could find one positive out the game that it was probably the best first quarter we have played since I have been at Goshen,” Deveridge said.

The Eagles hit 19 of 27 free throws in the game.

“Other than the turnovers we did everything right,” Deveridge said. “We’ve been turning over the ball lately, and tonight it just caught up with us.”

The Eagles will play games on Friday and Saturday regardless of wins or losses in the tournament because it is a round-robin style tournament.

The Eagles will tip-off the first game of today’s action against last night’s loser of Red Level and New Brockton.