Down three points, less than 20 seconds to go, the Georgia Southern University men’s basketball team has the ball; senior point guard C.J. Reed hits a clutch three and ties the game forcing overtime.

The Eagles would go on to lose that game, a week ago, against the Appalachian State University Mountaineers even after Reed gave the Eagles another lead 62-61 with 28 seconds left.

In that very same week, Reed was named Southern Conference player of the week for the second time this season, after helping the Eagles go 2-1 including a huge win over The College of Charleston, which holds the best record in the South Division of the SoCon.

The first time Reed was named SoCon player of the week, he was also named Mid-Major player of the week when the senior led the Eagles to a 3-1 record including a win over college basketball powerhouse Virginia Tech.

Reed scored in double figures for four straight games in December, including his 22-point outburst against Virginia Tech that led to a GSU win.

Reed only managed to score a total of 27 points in his first four games as an Eagle.

It took a while but Reed has finally come along after a slow start to the season for the senior transferring from the University of Central Florida.

This is Reed’s first season with the Eagles and prior to the season starting, the team was hit with the injury bug, and as a result, chemistry issues prevented them from meshing on the court to start the season.

As the season progressed, Reed began to blossom.

“With these guys they made me feel at home when I got here, so I’ve been able to step into that leadership role, and they’ve done a great of following and we’re coming together,” Reed said.

Reed is averaging 11.7 points per game, which makes him the second leading scorer on the team behind junior forward Eric Ferguson. Reed is a prolific three-point shooter, shooting at a three-point field goal percentage of 37.5.

Recently, Reed posted a career high in assists with 11 against Western Carolina University. In that same game Reed passed the 500-career assists milestone.

“Being a senior point guard I got to lead these guys. I got to have confidence in them, I know they can make plays,” Reed said after a win over the Cougars.

Prior to reaching his career high in assists, the senior point guard had rattled off another double-digit four-game scoring streak as the Eagles went 2-2 in that span.

As Reed goes, the Eagles go. In six of 12 Eagles losses, Reed shot the ball with a field goal percentage less than 33 percent.

Reed has led the Eagles in scoring, passing and/or rebounds each at least once this season.