Torrid first half propels Pioneers past Eagles
January 6, 2021

Torrid first half propels Pioneers past Eagles

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – Tusculum (4-1, 4-1 South Atlantic Conference) canned 11-of-13 first-half threes to build a 20-point halftime lead before withstanding a late Carson-Newman (1-3, 1-3 SAC) rally to hold on for an 82-72 win over the Eagles Wednesday night at Pioneer Arena.

VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview

VIDEO: EJ Bush Interview

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – Tusculum (4-1, 4-1 South Atlantic Conference) canned 11-of-13 first-half threes to build a 20-point halftime lead before withstanding a late Carson-Newman (1-3, 1-3 SAC) rally to hold on for an 82-72 win over the Eagles Wednesday night at Pioneer Arena.

The Eagles were coming off a 35-day layoff due to CoVID issues coupled with the Christmas break. 

"I was really pleased with our attitude coming back and our effort, demonstration in practice," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "It's one thing to practice, it's another thing to play. I think it took us about a half to get the wrinkles ironed out.  Tonight's first half was covered with rest.

"Now, it's a credit to our guys because we defended at a much more effective clip while showing determination and resiliency.  Credit though goes to Tusculum for shooting the actual lights out. That was an incredible performance."   

The Pioneers converted on 13-of-20 three-point attempts for the game to finish shooting 65 percent from long range – the second-best shooting effort from downtown in Tusculum history. 

The win is the Pioneers third straight at home over the Eagles.   

Tusculum knocked down 64 percent of its shots and 84 percent of its threes in the opening half en route to building a 20-point, 52-32 halftime lead.

However, Carson-Newman picked business up in the second half. The Eagles opened the period on a 9-0 run buoyed by Ren Dyer (Weaverville, N.C.). The freshman opened the second half with a triple and finished the run with a pair of free throws en route to a career-high 16-point night.

After the burst and cutting the deficit to 11, Carson-Newman wouldn't hit another field goal for five minutes. In the interim, Tusculum stretched the lead back to 18, 62-44 with 12:04 to play following a Trenton Gibson layup. 

Still the Eagles wouldn't go quietly into the night. Carson-Newman trimmed the deficit to single digits following a 9-2 run thanks to a Luke Brenegan (Greenville, S.C.) three with 5:25 to play.  Another Brenegan three and free throw with 2:17 left would cut the deficit to seven.  However Keaston Brown and Gibson nailed a quartet of free throws to push the edge back to double-digits.   

"We want to represent ourselves, our institution and our family in a first class manner," Benson said. "I'm not surprised at our guy's response. We don't have quitters.  We were having to climb out of a hole and we weren't gonna lay down."

The Eagles managed to outrebound the league's top rebounding team by 13, 42-29.  It marked just the seventh time in Tusculum's last 38 games that the Pioneers were outrebounded. 

"To outrebound that team by 13 says something about our aggressiveness, competiveness and toughness," Benson said. "To rebound like we did and to get to the free throw line 32 times, you don't get there because you're soft. We were the aggressor tonight.  Something can come from that approach.  This was a good building block."

Aside from Dyer's career-high 16, three other Eagles scored in double figures. 

EJ Bush (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) turned in his seventh career double-double with 10 points and 10 boards. Bryant Thomas (Charlotte, N.C. ) produced his fourth career double-digit effort with 12 points and three blocks.  Brenegan rounded out the Eagles in double-figures with 10 points and four assists. 

Gibson led all scorers for Tusculum with 22 points on 7-of-13 shooting. He was also 7-of-8 at the charity stripe. Additionally, he grabbed six rebounds and handed out seven assists.  Kobe Funderburk matched a 14-year-old Tusculum record by going 5-of-5 from long range.  Funderburk becomes the first Eagle opponent to knock down at least four threes without missing since Jameel Taylor of Catawba buried four threes without missing on Feb. 6, 2016. Funderburk added in 15 points. 

Inady Legiste had a season-high 14 off the bench with three blocks. 

The Pioneers 13 made threes are the most made against C-N since Catawba nailed 14 on Feb. 15, 2020. The 63 percent shooting effort from deep is a bit rarer. The Pioneers join Lincoln Memorial, who knocked down 15-of-22 on Jan. 15, 2017, and Anderson, who drilled 15-of-24 on Jan. 19, 2013, as the only programs to make better than 60 percent of their shots from long range against Carson-Newman in the last 12 years. 

Six different players knocked down triples for the Pioneers.

Carson-Newman returns to action Saturday at 2 p.m. at Anderson. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network starts at 1:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on The Mountain 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Seveirville) and online at cneagles.com/live. 

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