C-N secures winning road record, grinds out 65-55 win at Newberry
February 21, 2026

C-N secures winning road record, grinds out 65-55 win at Newberry

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (17-9, 12-8 South Atlantic Conference) made life a waking nightmare for the league’s second-leading scorer – Newberry’s Drake Downs. 

VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview

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JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (17-9, 12-8 South Atlantic Conference) made life a waking nightmare for the league's second-leading scorer – Newberry's Drake Downs. 

Entering the game averaging 19.4 points per game, Downs finished with just two as C-N dominated the Wolves (10-16, 6-14 SAC) defensively 65-55 Saturday afternoon at Eleazer Arena. 

"I knew that it being senior day, that their coaches and players would be extra motivated to perform," head coach Chuck Benson said. "We knew they would be good to go. Guys like Downs and Stremlow really are concerning with their offensive skill set.  To counter that, credit to our guys for coming out defensively and making it difficult for the whole 40 minutes.  I'm proud of the defensive targets we checked off today." 

Carson-Newman held the Wolves to 37.5 percent shooting.  The 55 points are a season-low for Newberry.  C-N swept the season series with the Wolves and has won five straight against Newberry.

The win is a season-long fourth straight for the Eagles.  It also secures Carson-Newman a winning record on the road for the season – a third straight where the Eagles have pulled that off. 

"Typically, if you play .500 basketball on the road, that's an accomplishment," Benson said. "We've exceeded that. It's a testament to the guys in this program as consistently as we have.  To lose what we lost from seniors last year, how do you overcome that. We've had veteran guys performing consistently, with new guys who have found ways to add value. Now that it's February, everyone is in a pretty good place mentally and performing with great confidence. I'm thrilled for our guys and for out institution."   

C-N held the Wolves to 32.1 percent shooting in the first half as it built a 29-24 halftime lead.  The Eagles burst of the gates from the second half on a 13-2 run to stretch the lead to double-digits for the first time. 

Keliese Frye (Newport, Ky.) started the burst with a jam.  Matt Bilbrey (Crossville, Tenn.) connected on three straight jumpers before Braden Ilic (Morristown, Tenn.) rattled in a three.  That put the Eagles ahead 40-27 four minutes into the second half.  Newberry would only cut the deficit to single digits on two occasions the rest of the game. 

Carson-Newman shot 45.3 percent from the field and 52.0 percent after halftime.  C-N had a season-low seven assists. 

"Bill (Matt Bilbrey) got in a bit of foul trouble," Benson said. "Colin gave us some solid minutes, but Bill is still a seasoned vet and one of the more complete players in this region in terms of basketball acumen and understanding.  When he's on the floor, the synergy goes to another level. That made it difficult.  They mixed their ball screen coverage and that made it challenging.  It was a physical game where there weren't a lot of whistles on drives to the basket, as one would expect moving into late February and postseason play.  Overall, it was just more difficult without Bill on the floor, if you want to get it down to just one thing." 

Bilbrey finished with 13 in 28 foul-plagued minutes.  He was 6-of-10 from the field, but saw a six-game streak where he'd made a three come to an end.  He was 0-for-1 from deep. 

Jack Browder (Kingsport, Tenn.) led C-N with 20 points.  He was 5-of-16 from the field and 9-of-10 at the line. Browder bypassed Lenoir-Rhyne's Daniel Willis for fifth on the league's all-time scoring list.  Browder has 1,982 career points. 

Ilic and Frye rounded out C-N's double-digit scorers.  Both had 10 points. Both were 4-of-7 from the field.

For a third time in four games, Carson-Newman turned the ball over less than 10 times.  C-N only had eight coughups against the Wolves. 

"There have been some really specific things we have been working on in practice," Benson said. "Credit to our players for their preparation. That's the third game out of four where we have had single digit turnovers.  Their discipline to follow through as a staff and as a team has been so good.  That's been a big plus for our team here of late. That will only help us going into postseason." 

C-N outscored Newberry 19-6 in points off turnovers. The Wolves had 12 giveaways.  C-N converted 10 of them into points.

Houston Jones led Newberry with a career-high 18 points.  He connected on 6-of-11 threes.  Kayzzin McDowell was Newberry's only other double-digit scorer, he had 10.

C-N held Malakhi Stremlow four below his season average, to eight.  Meanwhile, Downs was 17 off his scoring output. He also only snagged three rebounds. He came into the game averaging eight a game. 

"Keliese Frye was the key," Benson said. "Other guys around him were intent on making it difficult to Downs. We wanted to force other players to step up and carry that load.  He scores two, that's about as close to perfection as can be when contending with him."

C-N had a narrow 34-32 edge on the boards against Newberry.  In spite of missing six more shots than C-N. 

Carson-Newman returns home Wednesday to take on Mars Hill.  Tipoff from Holt Fieldhouse is set for 7:30 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 7:15 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mix 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.  A video stream is available with a subscription to Flo Sports at cneagles.com/FloMBB.  Fans can also watch the Eagle Sports Network crew at work while listening to the radio call on YouTube. 

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