C-N cranks open 2025-26 campaign with SAC/Conference Carolinas Challenge
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman will begin a quest for a third straight 20-win campaign inside the friendly confines of Holt Fieldhouse with the SAC/Conference Carolinas Challenge.
| Final | 1 | 2 | T |
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29 | 42 | 71 |
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62 | 46 | 108 |
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44 | 35 | 79 |
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54 | 44 | 98 |
VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview
VIDEO: King On Press Row
VIDEO: Lees-McRae On Press Row
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman will begin a quest for a third straight 20-win campaign inside the friendly confines of Holt Fieldhouse with the SAC/Conference Carolinas Challenge.
C-N kicks off the season Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. against King before taking on Lees-McRae at 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon.
This marks the first time C-N has opened a season at home since the 2021-22 season.
The Eagles will be looking for a way to replace the likes of Nick Brenegan, John Zhao and Trey Hubbard. C-N lost seven seniors from last season and a total 5,233 points from its graduated seniors. A whopping 3,952 of those points came from the all-league trio of Brenegan, Hubbard and Zhao.
"That number is such a deflating data point," head coach Chuck Benson said with a laugh. "We're trying not to think too much about what we've lost and instead think about what we have. We were intentional in our recruiting process and our returning guys. We feel like we have guys who are in the mix and will go with what we've got. I like what I have seen in our preseason work, now it's time to see what we have against King and Lees."
Carson-Newman is searching to go 2-0 against King and UVA Wise in this iteration of the SAC/Conference Carolinas Challenge for a third straight year. C-N, King, LMC and UVA Wise have formed a quartet playing one another every year, with the exception of the CoVID-shortened 2020-21 season, since 2019. C-N is 6-4 against King and LMC in the challenge in that stretch.
Carson-Newman men's basketball is 44-24 all-time in season opening games. The Eagles are 8-5 over the last 13 seasons in lidlifters.
Jack Browder enters the weekend on 1,373 career points. He is 21st all-time in Carson-Newman history in scoring. He won't pass anyone before he gets to 1,400 career points, however, the top 20 is 39 points away. Former teammate John Zhao has 1,412 career points and presently sits in 20th.
Carson-Newman has won five straight non-conference games.
Lees-McRae was picked to finish ninth in Conference Carolinas in the league's annual preseason poll. Meanwhile, King was picked to finish sixth. The teams flip-flopped their preseason positioning from last year.
King's Jordan Akal was a third-team All-Conference Carolinas selection last year. He averaged 18.4 points, 4.8 boards and 1.7 assists per game. Akal had 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting in the Eagles' 92-80 win over the Tornado in last year's SAC/Conference Carolina's Challenge.
Lees-McRae is under the direction of first-year head coach DeSean Mobley. Motley was on previous head coach Steve Hardin's staff for nine years, the last four of which were spent as assoicate head coach.
Last year, King was Conference Carolinas' top rebounding team, snagging 41.06 boards per game, a figure that ranked 14th nationally. The Torando also led the league in both offensive and defensive rebounding. King had 18 offensive boards last season against the Eagles.
Lees-McRae led Conference Carolinas and was 17th nationally last season in blocks per game, averaging 4.5 rejections per contest. The Bobcats got rim protection from two players who aren't on this year's roster - Nico Ashley and Travis Pourciau - who had 34 and 23 rejections, respectively.
No double-digit scorer returns for Lees-McRae from last season. Nigel Okwakol's 7.3 points per game are the top returning mark.
Tipoff between the Eagles and Tornado is set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 7:15 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on cneagles.com/live. A video stream is available on FloCollege with a subscription at cneagles.com/FloMbb. Fans can also join live on press row with a view of the ESN's spot at the scorer's table on YouTube.
Team Stats
King (Tenn.)
| Game Statistics | King (Tenn.) | Carson-Newman |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (29-85) | (41-72) |
| Field Goal % | 34.1% | 56.9% |
| Rebounds | 37 | 53 |
| Assists | 10 | 28 |
| Turnovers | 10 | 17 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 18 | 21 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 8 | 16 |
| Pts in the Paint | 42 | 54 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 10 | 26 |
| Bench Pts | 24 | 49 |
Lees-McRae
| Game Statistics | Lees-McRae | Carson-Newman |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (29-66) | (35-64) |
| Field Goal % | 43.9% | 54.7% |
| Rebounds | 32 | 41 |
| Assists | 16 | 21 |
| Turnovers | 7 | 10 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 6 | 9 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 7 | 4 |
| Pts in the Paint | 48 | 44 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 12 | 15 |
| Bench Pts | 25 | 21 |
