Eagles spray Wasps, reset single-game three-point efficiency record
February 18, 2026

Eagles spray Wasps, reset single-game three-point efficiency record

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (16-9, 11-8 South Atlantic Conference) shot a scintillating 68.8 percent from beyond the arc to rewrite the school single-game three-point percentage record in a wire-to-wire 92-69 triumph over Emory & Henry (14-11, 9-10 SAC) Wednesday night in Holt Fieldhouse. 

VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview

VIDEO: Highlights

VIDEO: Keliese Frye Interview

VIDEO: Braden Ilic Interview

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (16-9, 11-8 South Atlantic Conference) shot a scintillating 68.8 percent from beyond the arc to rewrite the school single-game three-point percentage record in a wire-to-wire 92-69 triumph over Emory & Henry (14-11, 9-10 SAC) Wednesday night in Holt Fieldhouse. 

The Eagles never trailed for their fourth wire-to-wire win of the season.  Carson-Newman shot 57.9 percent from the field, its second-best shooting percentage of the season. 

"They beat us soundly earlier this year in Virginia," head coach Chuck Benson said. "We knew it would be a challenge. I liked our guys prep the past two days. Really from the jump, we came out and set a tone defensively.  I don't think we ever let them feel comfortable.  Our guys did a nice job sustaining that effort with a big halftime lead. I give credit to our guys for their determination and resiliency for 40 minutes.  I thought we impacted their scoring in a big time way today.  Credit goes to our players."

Carson-Newman limited the Wasps to 38.5 percent shooting for the game and a paltry 31.0 percent from the field in the first half.  C-N turned the defense to offense and led 45-26 at the halftime break. The 19-point halftime lead was its second-largest of the season. 

Carson-Newman seized control early with a 9-0 run in the first six minutes of the game.  C-N put the foot on the accelerator around halftime.  The Eagles rattled off an 18-2 burst spanning the halftime break while the Wasps failed to score over the final two minutes of the first half and the opening two minutes of the second half.  Rylan Houck (Oxford, Ala.) and Braden Ilic (Morristown, Tenn.) canned consecutive threes two minutes into the second half to push the edge to 25.  A second Ilic three gave C-N a 30-point lead, 58-28 with 16:47 to go in the game. 

The 68.8 percent effort from long range resets the record C-N set at E&H on Jan. 24, 2024 when it made 68.2 percent of its threes.  It's the fifth game in school history where C-N has made at least 65 percent of its threes with at least 10 made. 

Five different players made a three, and no one shot below 50 percent from deep. Ilic paced C-N with his five makes on eight attempts. 

"Most of it goes back to our commitment as a team to get shots up in and out of practice," Benson said. "We're starting to see some payoff from that. It's been about the work and investment, and now that confidence is coming through.  Braden goes 5-for-8, and I'm so happy for him because he's a guy who is so capable. He's not shot it like he did today, but he looked uber-confident today." 

Carson-Newman dolled out 24 assists on its 33 made baskets.  Both Houck and Keliese Frye (Newport, Ky.) reset their career highs for assists with seven and four, respectively.  Jack Browder (Kingsport, Tenn.) also handed out six. 

"It is evidence of trust," Benson said. "We shared the ball well offensively, we obviously have some guys who can put the ball in the basket in isolation. But when we are playing synergistically together, I love our quality of shot. And that togetherness and trust is emblematic of what this university is about creating Christian servant leaders." 

While Carson-Newman's offense hummed, C-N made scoring challenging for two of the SAC's top-10 scorers.  C-N held Korbin Dixon to 13, four below his average.  Jackson Crawford also went four below his average on 5-of-13 shooting, finishing with 12. 

"Keliese was an absolute presence defensively," Benson said. "Bill did some nice things on Crawford too. It was really more of a team approach.  We guarded the ball well and protected the paint. That's why we won the free throw battle. There were some nice organic scramble scenarios that paid off and minimized any advantage that E&H was searching for. It was just a really strong defensive performance." 

Yaturi Bolton and Jalen Smith were E&H's other two double-digit scorers. They both had 11. 

Carson-Newman smashed the glass, outrebounding the Wasps 40-26.  In spit of missing 24 shots to E&H's 40, C-N only had one fewer offensive rebound than the Wasps. Furthermore, Carson-Newman outscored E&H 17-10 in second chance points. 

Frye snagged six offensive rebounds – a career high.  Five of those boards led to second-chance points for C-N. 

"Keliese was so determined on the offensive glass," Benson said. "His timing was impeccable.  We were able to capitalize.  Kudos to him for that specific element of the game." 

Browder paced C-N with his 51st career 20-point game and his 37th career double-double. He finished with a game-high 24 points and 12 rebounds.

With 862 career rebounds, Browder moved into seventh in SAC history in career rebounds and past Lincoln Memorial All-American Emmanuel Terry. 

"At one point in the second half, I looked at our bench and said 'I hope you're watching closely at how hard Jack plays,'" Benson said. "If it's a one-on-one, I'll bet on him 100 percent of the time.  If it's a two-on-one or three-on-one situation, he's still going to win 99 percent of the time.  He is one of the most competitive, determined human beings around. I'd love to clone that. But I hope our guys watch him and want to be like him when it comes to competitiveness, toughness and consistency.  He really is the standard along with guys like Sawyer Williams and Antoine Davis. There are still times where I shake my head in game because I can't believe what he's doing." 

Browder connected on 8-of-19 shots, 2-of-4 threes and all six of his free throws. 

Ilic turned in his second 20-point game of the season and the fifth of his career.  He finished with 21 on 8-of-12 shooting.  Frye and Matt Bilbrey (Crossville, Tenn.) both had 16 points. 

Carson-Newman heads to Newberry for its final road game of the season.  Tipoff from Eleazer Arena is set for  4 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 3:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mix 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. A live look of the broadcast crew on press row can  be viewed on YouTube simulcast with the radio call. 

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