Short-handed Eagles fall to hot-shooting King, 79-71

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Visiting King College made 18 three-point field goals to rally from a three-point halftime deficit and beat Carson-Newman, 79-71, in the 2011 Dick Campbell Memorial Classic on Saturday evening in Holt Fieldhouse.

With the loss, the Eagles fall to 2-2 on the season.

King started the second half on a decisive 20-5 run to build its largest lead of the game at the time, 53-41. It connected on three of its first four three-point attempts and was fouled on another to build the lead at the 14:35 mark.  

KC would pull away late, building a 17-point lead, 72-55, with just over five minutes to play, but C-N rallied with a 16-5 run to cut the lead to six in the final minute.

The Tornado made nine threes in each half to hold off the Eagles. It shot 50 percent from three-point range in the second half (9-of-18).

C-N's Ishmael Sanders led all scorers with 27 points. He made 9-of-18 field goal attempts and had two steals. Sophomore Tyler Smith added 10 for the Eagles.

C-N grabbed a five-point lead near the end of the first half, 35-30, on a three-pointer by Antoine Davis. He finished with 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

Eddie Piccinini led four King scorers in double figures with 18 points.

For the game, C-N shot 43 percent (23-of-53) from the floor, while King shot only 39.7 percent, but the Eagles were just 7-of-21 from behind the three-point line. King was 18-of-40.

C-N played without forward Kevin Hare after he suffered an injury Friday night in the win against Cincinnati Christian. Hare, along with sophomore guard Kevin Leatherwood and freshman forward are missing from the Eagles' rotation, but are expected to return to court in the coming weeks.

Carson-Newman returns to action on Tuesday at Belmont Abbey College. Tipoff is at 7 p.m.