March 9, 2014

Men’s hoops dances for first time in a decade

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman’s men’s basketball team is postseason bound for the first time in more than 10 years. The Eagles also earn their first ever NCAA Tournament berth by an at-large bid.

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman's men's basketball team is postseason bound for the first time in more than 10 years. The Eagles also earn their first ever NCAA Tournament berth by an at-large bid.

"We're thrilled, especially for our seniors," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "We told them to be consistent and win game, and hopefully our resume would speak for itself. We're thankful that we were able to put it all together."

The Eagles are seeded seventh in the Southeast Region and have a first round draw with second-seeded and nationally ranked arch-rival Lincoln Memorial Saturday at a time to be determined at regional host USC-Aiken.

"We know they are a quality opponent and Josh (Schertz) has them doing seemingly everything well," Benson said. "We have such a familiarity with them that we know it won't be anything other than a 40-minute battle."

The Eagles and Railsplitters split the regular season meetings. C-N won 79-77 in Holt Fieldhouse, while LMU took a 77-60 decision in Tex Turner Arena.

Carson-Newman is 1-0 all-time against LMU in postseason play. C-N triumphed 86-74 over the Railsplitters in the 1984 NAIA District Tournament.

Carson-Newman was knocked out of the South Atlantic Conference quarterfinals by Coker in a seven versus two seed upset 80-72.

C-N gathered its players in the team locker room for a viewing party of NCAA.com's selection show, which revealed the Eagles had earned a spot in postseason play. Carson-Newman's players erupted in cheers when the announcement was made.

The postseason appearance is Carson-Newman men's hoops first since 2001-02 and its third as a member of Division II (the 93-94 Eagles reached the NCAA tourney after a fifth-seeded C-N club scored an upset over Lenoir-Rhyne in the SAC title game to earn a berth). Carson-Newman made 13 NAIA tournaments from 1960-1984. This will be C-N men's basketball's 16^th postseason appearance all-time.

A Dale Clayton-coached club topped Johnson C. Smith in the first round of the NCAA tournament in 2002 77-66 before bowing out to Shaw 69-68.

The Eagles have been led by first team All-South Atlantic Conference performers Ish Sanders (Cleveland, Tenn.) and Antoine Davis (Rustburg, Va.) all season long. Sanders averages an even 20.0 points while Davis chips in 19.1.

The trip will be the fourth trip to postseason play for fourth-year Eagle head coach Chuck Benson. Benson guided Martin Methodist College to three consecutive NAIA tournament appearances from 2001-03, including back-to-back appearances in the Sweet 16 in 2001 and 2002.

"I learned a couple things from those experiences," Benson said. "You don't want to change what you're doing and miss the experience. You don't want to be all tied up in knots. You want to be able to soak it all in."

Saturday's contest will be the Eagles' 50^th postseason contest all-time. C-N is 33-16 to date.

Coverage of the game will be available on the Eagle Sports Network on 106.3 ESPN Radio The Zone (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.

Carson-Newman's All-Time Postseason History

Year	Opponent	Result	C-N	Opp
1961	Union	W	78	68
1961	Christian Brothers	L	61	66
1962	Georgetown	W	75	51
1962	Peru State	W	68	65
1962	Western Illinois	L	65	91
1963	Tennessee Wesleyan	W	48	45
1963	Rice	W	83	57
1963	Indiana State	W	70	63
1963	Grambling	L	70	79
1964	Lipscomb	W	53	45
1964	Tennessee Wesleyan	W	75	59
1964	Union	W	75	59
1964	Huntington	W	76	59
1964	Lewis and Clark	W	75	66
1964	Central Oklahoma	W	61	55
1964	Emporia State	W	73	60
1964	Texas Pan-American	L	54	56
1965	Milligan	W	96	64
1965	Belmont	W	64	57
1965	Lipscomb	W	65	57
1965	Transylvania	L	57	59
1966	Christian Brothers	W	83	62
1966	Union	L	59	70
1966	Tennessee Wesleyan	W	63	61
1966	Lipscomb	W	67	54
1966	Indiana Central	W	68	67
1966	Morris Harvey	W	103	74
1966	Oklahoma Baptist	L	62	87
1970	Lane	W	82	71
1970	Kentucky State	L	82	92
1972	Kentucky State	L	96	105
1973	Cumberland	W	93	81
1973	Kentucky State	L	66	67
1975	Kentucky State	L	64	75
1982	Tennessee Wesleyan	W	97	81
1982	King	W	61	51
1982	Lipscomb	L	76	86
1983	Bryan	W	120	89
1983	Tennessee Wesleyan	W	93	81
1983	Trevecca Nazarene	W	91	68
1983	Northern State	W	114	81
1983	St. Mary's	W	75	70
1983	West Virginia Wesleyan	L	78	86
1984	Lincoln Memorial	W	86	74
1984	Christian Brothers	W	94	72
1984	Central Washington	L	74	75
1994	Longwood	L	63	76
2002	Johnson C. Smith	W	77	66
2002	Shaw	L	68	69