Eagles fall to hot-shooting Pioneers, 78-72
GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — The Carson-Newman men's basketball team was unable to overcome a hot-shooting Tusculum team on Wednesday night, as the Pioneers pulled out a 78-72 victory in South Atlantic Conference action at Pioneer Arena.
GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — The Carson-Newman men's basketball team was unable to overcome a hot-shooting Tusculum team on Wednesday night, as the Pioneers pulled out a 78-72 victory in South Atlantic Conference action at Pioneer Arena.
Tusculum shot a season-high 61.9 percent (26-of-42) from the floor, including a 10-of-17 effort from behind the arc.
With the loss, the Eagles drop to 9-12 on the season and 6-7 in the conference. Tusculum improves to 11-12 overall and 8-5 in SAC.
The Eagles also had a stellar night shooting. C-N scored at a 53.1 percent clip (26-of-49), including 11 3-pointers.
Junior forward Kevin Hare (Lexington, S.C.) tossed in 18 points to lead the Eagles, while John Holleman (Petersburg, Va.) chipped in 16 points. Bradley Tumer (Mt. Dora, Fla.) finished with 10 points and eight assists.
Rob Troutman fired in a game-high 22 points, including six 3-pointers, to pace Tusculum. Kevin Vest pitched in 18 points, and Dionte Grey added 10 points in the win.
The Pioneers took a 23-13 lead midway through the first half on a 3-pointer by Troutman, but Hare answered at the other end with a deep 3-pointer from the top of the arc to spark a huge C-N run to close out the half. The Eagles outscored Tusculum 20-8 to head into the locker room with a 33-31 lead.
Both teams had solid first half efforts on the offensive end. The Eagles shot 48 percent and knocked down seven 3-pointers, while Tusculum shot 57.9 percent and was 5-of-8 from deep.
C-N pushed its lead to 39-33 early in the second half after a 3-pointer by Kevin Leatherwood and a made free throw by Brandon Evans (Salem, Va.) with 17:25 remaining.
However, the Pioneers responded with an 8-0 run capped off by a layup by Justin Steigerwald that gave Tusculum a 41-39 advantage. Tusculum then made five of its next six attempts from the floor to push its lead to 52-47 on a 3-pointer by Vest at the 11:18 mark.
C-N scrapped back with an 8-2 run to regain the lead. Leatherwood collected a steal on the press and passed it ahead to Tumer, who made a layup to finish off the run and give the Eagles a 55-54 lead with 7:54 remaining.
After Tusculum went back on top at 56-55, Sanders drilled a jumper to give C-N the lead back at 57-56 with 5:46 left, but Tusculum went on an 8-0 run to take a 64-57 lead. Dionte Grey converted a 3-point play to cap the run with 3:42 left.
C-N was unable to pull closer than four points the rest of the way.
The Eagles return to action on Saturday at home against Lenoir-Rhyne. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. at Holt Fieldhouse. The night is designated "Chris Jones Night" to honor former C-N All-American and head coach Chris Jones.
