Eagles collect first SAC victory of the season, 96-89, at Brevard
BREVARD, N.C. — The Carson-Newman men's basketball team led wire-to-wire on its way to a 96-89 victory at Brevard College on Wednesday night in South Atlantic Conference action in Boshamer Gymnasium.
BREVARD, N.C. — The Carson-Newman men's basketball team led wire-to-wire on its way to a 96-89 victory at Brevard College on Wednesday night in South Atlantic Conference action in Boshamer Gymnasium.
The 96 points were the most scored by the Eagles this season, while the victory was the first conference win for first-year head coach Chuck Benson. It was also the Eagles first win over Brevard in their last four meetings.
C-N improves to 4-7 overall and 1-2 in SAC play. The Tornados fall to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in the conference.
The Eagles had one of their best offensive efforts of the season, shooting 50.8 percent from the floor, including 10-of-25 from 3-point range. C-N also won the turnover battle, forcing 17 Brevard turnovers while only committing nine.
The Tornados shot 41.9 percent on the night and made 29-of-33 free throw attempts, while the Eagles were 22-of-27 from the charity stripe.
Junior forward John Holleman (Petersburg, Va.) fired in a game-high 24 points to pace the Eagles, while junior guard Antonio Sullivan (Louisville, Ky.) tossed in 20 points, including three 3-pointers. Freshman Ishmael Sanders (Cleveland, Tenn.) netted 18 points, including four 3-pointers, and Kevin Hare (Lexington, S.C.) added 11 points. Junior point guard Bradley Tumer (Mt. Dora, Fla.) pitched in eight points and seven assists in the win.
Gaither Hendrix led five Tornados in double figures with 21 points, while Josh Roper (18), Josh Jordan (17), Drew Schauss (10) and Vincent Dombrowski (10) also reached double figures in the loss.
C-N got off to a hot start, outscoring the Tornados 8-2 behind a 3-pointer each from Sullivan and Holleman.
Brevard fought back to knot the contest at 22 apiece with 9:00 left, but the Eagles outscored the Tornados 27-14 to close out the first half and take a 49-36 lead into the locker room.
C-N pushed its lead to as many as 16 points in the second half, as a jumper by Sullivan at the 15:19 mark gave the Eagles a 59-43 cushion.
The Tornados made one last push and trimmed C-N's lead to 92-89 on a four-point play by Hendrix with 31 seconds left. However, the Eagles went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line down the stretch to preserve the win.
The Eagles return to action on Saturday in a SAC matchup at Lenoir-Rhyne. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. in Hickory, N.C.
