Eagles cruise past Lees-McRae behind big first half, 94-73

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - The Carson-Newman Eagles rode hot shooting to a 30-point first-half lead and cruised to a 94-73 win over visiting Less-McRae College on Saturday afternoon in Holt Fieldhouse.

C-N's high-scoring sophomore duo in Ishmael Sanders (Cleveland, Tenn.) and Antoine Davis (Rustburg, Va.) each had 21 points as the Eagles put the game away with a one-sided close to the first half.  

With the win, the Eagles improve to 7-4 on the year, while LMC falls 0-7.

The Eagles shot 61.5 percent in the opening half to blow the game open.

Sanders hit 4-of-5 three point attempts and scored 17 points to lead the Eagles through 20 minutes.

Carson-Newman fell behind 9-7 in the opening minutes on a Bobcats' three from Daniel Sepokas, but a Sanders' three at the 16:01 mark gave the Eagles the lead at 10-9. The Eagles would not trail again in the game.   

Carson-Newman would outscore the Bobcats 45-13 over the next 15 minutes to take a 52-22 lead late in the first half.

C-N made four-straight free throws to push the lead to 20-11 with 11:07 to play in the half. The free throws would start a 14-0 run, fueled by two three pointers and a steal by Sanders.

Freshman Kennedy Eubanks capped the run with a highlight reel steal-and-dunk, sailing in from the right side in transition for the two-handed flush to make it 30-11.

Five Eagles were perfect in the first half, combining to go 8-for-8 from the floor and score 20 points.

C-N was 15-of-16 at the free throw line and 11-of-15 from inside the arc in the first half to overwhelm the Bobcats.

Lees-McRae made 9-of-23 field goal in the second half to cut into the Eagle lead, outscoring the Eagles 49-42, but it wasn't nearly enough to make a dent in the halftime deficit.

Davis finished 7-of-13 from the floor, while Sanders was 5-of-12. Sanders a perfect 7-of-7 at the line.

Eubanks continues to emerge after an early-season injury.  He had a career-high 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting including two dunks.

C-N shot 27-of-34 at the line for 79 percent, while LMC struggled at 55 percent (16-of-29).

Guard D.J. Brown led the Bobcats with 16 points of 5-of-7 from three-point range, while Jeremiah Henry matched him for team-high scoring honors with 16 on 5-of-9 shooting.

Carson-Newman returns to action next Saturday in its final game before Christmas break. The Eagles host Bluefield College at 2 p.m.

 -C-N-