January 12, 2013

Eagles ready for showdown with high scoring Newberry

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (9-2, 2-1 South Atlantic Conference) will have to contend with the SAC’s top scoring offense when Newberry (5-6, 1-2 SAC) rolls into Holt Fieldhouse for a Saturday afternoon showdown with the Eagles. Newberry averages 95 points per game – that’s 13 points better than the league’s second highest scoring team, Lincoln Memorial.

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (9-2, 2-1 South Atlantic Conference) will have to contend with the SAC's top scoring offense when Newberry (5-6, 1-2 SAC) rolls into Holt Fieldhouse for a Saturday afternoon showdown with the Eagles.

Newberry averages 95 points per game – that's 13 points better than the league's second highest scoring team, Lincoln Memorial.

The Wolves feature six players who average double figures, led by Dondray Walker's 15.5 points a contest. Quayshun Hawkins follows with 14.6.

"They are difficult to prepare for," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "I don't know if you can stop them. We've got to make sure that we can put points on the board ourselves."

Newberry has attempted a conference leading 327 threes, the Eagles are second in that category at 264. The Wolves attempted 56 triples in a two-overtime, 105-95 loss to Anderson, Wednesday night.

The Eagles have shot the three well this season, but have hit a slump of late. C-N has made a season low three trey balls in each of the last two games.

"What we've always said is that if kids will take good shots, we're not happy with them, but you can live with it," Benson said. "We'll keep taking the open shots and eventually we know they'll start falling."

Carson-Newman's two leading scorers and the second and third leading scorers in the SAC Antoine Davis (Rustburg, Va.) and Ish Sanders (Cleveland, Tenn.) are both top 25 in threes made per game in the nation with more than three apiece. But the duo combined to go 1-for-7 from beyond the arc in the win against Tusculum.

Newberry has won three in row over the Eagles. The last time Carson-Newman beat the Wolves was a 99-89 home victory in 2011 in which C-N held Newberry to a 5-for-42 performance beyond the arc.

The Wolves are 0-3 on the road this season while Carson-Newman is 4-0 at home. Carson-Newman is the lone one-loss team in the league standings and a win over Newberry would keep the Eagles a game behind conference unbeaten Wingate, Lincoln Memorial and Anderson.

Tip-off between the Eagles and Wolves is slated for 4 p.m. Pregame coverage begins at 3:45 p.m. on the Coca-Cola Eagle Sports Network with the Farm Bureau Countdown to Tip-off on ESPN Radio 106.3 The Zone (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com.

-CN-

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