Maxtion's 20 not enough as Eagles fall at King, 80-70

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Carson-Newman senior Darron Maxtion (Huntsville, Ala.) made 10-of-15 shots from the floor and finished with 20 points, but the Eagles were unable to overcome a balanced King attack in a 80-70 loss on Wednesday night in Bristol, Tenn.

With the loss, the Eagles fall to 9-11 overall, while King improves to 14-4.

C-N grabbed its largest lead of the game at late in the first half on a jumper by Jordan Dixon (Clinton, Tenn.), moving in front 28-24, but King would answer with a 9-3 run to take a 33-31 lead.

The two teams would trade points until the 13-minute mark of the second half, when King would break open a 54-52 game with a 13-1 run to build a 67-53 lead, their largest of the game.

The Eagles would cut the lead back to three at 69-66 with three minutes to play, behind three layups by Maxtion and five points from Dixon during the 13-2 spurt.

The Tornados would answer with a jumper from Mark Dockery and a pair of Elisha Murray free throws to push lead back out to seven and put the game out of reach.

Sophomore Cameron Sharpe (Knoxville, Tenn.) added 18 points for the Eagles. He made 6-of-10 shots from the floor. Senior Tray Okoth (Richmond, Va.) finished with 15 points.

Dockery led King with 19 points.

The Eagles shot 46.6 percent from the floor, but forced only nine turnovers.

King made 22-of-27 free throws in the game, including 17-of-18 in the second half.

The Eagles return to action on Saturday night in Jefferson City against Mars Hill College. Tipoff is at 8 p.m. in Holt Fieldhouse.