C-N set for home, nonconference tilt with Lees-McRae
December 1, 2013

C-N set for home, nonconference tilt with Lees-McRae

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (4-1) returns to Holt Fieldhouse for the first time in two weeks for its second to last nonconference game of the 2013-14 campaign as Lees-McRae (3-4) comes to town for a 7 p.m. tip Monday.

Chuck Benson By the Slice – LMC preview

Carson-Newman game notes

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (4-1) returns to Holt Fieldhouse for the first time in two weeks for its second to last nonconference game of the 2013-14 campaign as Lees-McRae (3-4) comes to town for a 7 p.m. tip Monday.

The Bobcats started the season by beating three straight South Atlantic Conference teams (Catawba, Lenoir-Rhyne and Brevard).  However, LMC has lost four straight and is coming off a week-long layoff following a 79-77 home loss to Bluefield State. 

"Last year they had a first-year head coach (Steve Hardin) and he made decisions from a scheme standpoint to do some things a little differently," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "They've made some changes and have gone from being a zone team to a team that presses and traps a ton.  They can put up some numbers.  They are a completely different team."

The Eagles are coming off a 14-point road win at Mars Hill.  The Eagles shot 57 percent from the field and 58 percent from deep that contest; however, Benson was less than pleased with the Eagles allowed a team to knock down more than 45 percent of its shots for just the sixth time over the last two year. 

"Hopefully we've learned from the experience that we had at Mars Hill and bring it 100 miles per hour," Benson said. "That and the fact that we're returning home hopefully helps us respond a bit."

Ish Sanders (Cleveland, Tenn.) is coming off a 31-point performance, the third of his career. Antoine Davis (Rustburg, Va.) leads the Eagles in scoring with 21.0 per contest.   Sanders needs just eight points to match Kyle Gribble as the program's all-time leading scorer in the Division II era. 

The Eagles duo will have to contend with the Bobcats' Mike Chambers, a freshman guard who leads LMC in scoring at 17.1 points per game.  Chambers scored 35 for the Bobcats in a 20-point loss to nationally-ranked Livingstone. 

"It's really difficult to be a freshman and produce like that," Benson said. "But the scheme is such that it creates a lot of opportunities for guys to capitalize."

The Bobcats get most of their production inside from junior forward Darryl Bond. He's started all seven games for LMC and averages near a double-double with 11 points and 8.9 rebounds. 

"He's a Tennessee kid," Benson said. "He's more of a finesse guy and that may benefit us. That's the style that we play.  Having said that, he can do a lot of things, he can shoot on the move, knock down the three and just create a lot of havoc out there."  

The Eagles and Bobcats tip at 7 p.m. from Holt Fieldhouse, pregame coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 6:45 p.m. with the Countdown to Tipoff on 106.3 ESPN Radio The Zone (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. 

-CN-

 
 
 
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