Eagles fall to Anderson, 69-62, in regular season finale
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. — The Carson-Newman men's basketball team dropped a 69-62 decision to Anderson on Senior Day on Saturday afternoon at Holt Fieldhouse in the final regular season game for both squads.
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. — The Carson-Newman men's basketball team dropped a 69-62 decision to Anderson on Senior Day on Saturday afternoon at Holt Fieldhouse in the final regular season game for both squads.
With the loss, the Eagles finish the regular season at 11-15 overall and 8-10 in the conference. Anderson improves to 18-10 and 12-6 in SAC play. The Eagles will be back in action on the road on Wednesday in the first round of the SAC Tournament. The conference will release the tournament pairings on Sunday.
C-N struggled on the offensive end as it shot just 37.3 percent (22-of-59) for the game, including 29 percent in the first half. The Trojans scored at a 46.4 percent clip (27-of-58). Anderson also held a 35-25 advantage on the glass and outscored the Eagles 38-20 in the paint.
Junior guard Antonio Sullivan (Louisville, Ky.) paced the Eagles with 17 points, including five 3-pointers, while John Holleman (Petersburg, Va.) added 12 points and six rebounds. Junior point guard Bradley Tumer (Mt. Dora, Fla.) finished with six points and 10 assists.
Nick Trull (Charlotte, N.C.) netted 15 points to lead five Trojans in double figures. Taylor Shugart (Rock Hill, S.C.) and Kevis Cornwell (York, S.C.) chipped in 14 points apiece, while Trey Britton (Alpharetta, Ga.) and Oskars Ernsteins (Rigas, Latvia) had 10 points each.
The Eagles built an early five-point lead, as a 3-pointer by Erwin State (Huntsville, Ala.) gave C-N a 15-10 advantage with 12:10 left in the first half.
But Anderson stormed back with an 18-2 run capped off by a 3-pointer by Ernsteins to give the Trojans a 28-17 advantage at the 6:57 mark.
The Trojans led by as many as 12 points late in the first half, but C-N freshman Kevin Leatherwood (Charlottesville, Va.) drained a 3-pointer with seven seconds left to cut Anderson's lead to 32-25 heading into the locker room.
C-N opened the second half on a 9-2 run to tie the game at 34-34 with 17:07 remaining. However, Britton made a driving layup less than two minutes later to give the Trojans the lead for good. Anderson eventually pushed it lead back to 11 points late in the half, and the Eagles were unable to pull closer than five points the rest of the way.
