Eagles look to rebound versus Lions
November 25, 2013

Eagles look to rebound versus Lions

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – No. 16 Carson-Newman (3-1, 1-1 South Atlantic Conference) will try to avoid a second straight loss when it travels to winless Mars Hill (0-4, 0-2 SAC) for an 8 p.m. tip Tuesday.

Carson-Newman Game Notes 

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – No. 16 Carson-Newman (3-1, 1-1 South Atlantic Conference) will try to avoid a second straight loss when it travels to winless Mars Hill (0-4, 0-2 SAC) for an 8 p.m. tip Tuesday.

The Eagles have won five of the last six against the Lions and have scored more than 90 points in all but one of those contests. 

"They are potentially dangerous because they have guys that hit perimeter shots," C-N head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "We've got to go in very hungry and excited for the opportunity to get back in the wins column."

Carson-Newman is coming off an upset road loss to Coker 68-59 where it shot a season worst 41 percent from the field.

Mars Hill has struggled defensively this year, giving up an average of 108 points through its first four games.  That includes a SAC high 131 points allowed to King.  The low water mark for the Lions defensively came in their last game, a road trip to Catawba where they surrendered 94 to the Indians. 

"Styles make fights and what we do offensively and defensively has made the games like they have been," Benson said. "Overall their style of play is the same and hopefully that allows us to go in confidently and take care of our own business."

The Lions are led by Jalen Witherspoon and his 13 points and five rebounds a contest.  Devonte Williams and Carter Wright round out Mars Hill's double figure scorers averaging 12.8 and 10.3 points per game respectively.  However, Witherspoon and Wright are both struggling from three-point land, connecting on 21 and 26 percent of their long balls, respectively.

Carson-Newman's Ish Sanders (Cleveland, Tenn.) is suffering through his own scoring dry spell. 

He's averaging 10.5 points per game (eight below his career average) and shooting 25 percent from the field and 21 percent from three since the Eagles entered conference play.

But, Mars Hill might be the salvo the all-conference guard needs to get back on track.  He has averaged 26 points per game against the Lions in his career, including a school record 51 his freshman season. 

"Ish is very frustrated by the shooting slump he's found himself in," Benson said. "But we have absolute confidence in him to bounce out of this.  Right now we still want to encourage him to take his shot and eventually they'll fall.  He still does all the right things, getting shots up in practice.  It'll come around for him."

The Eagles and Lions tip at 8 p.m. Wednesday night.  Pregame coverage begins at 7:45 p.m. on the Eagle Sports Network with the Countdown to Tipoff on 106.3 ESPN Radio The Zone (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. 

-CN-