Eagles drop 87-83 decision to Newberry
Jan. 31, 2009
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- The Carson-Newman men's basketball team couldn't overcome a stellar shooting night by Newberry as it fell 87-83 in South Atlantic Conference action Saturday night at Holt Fieldhouse.
Newberry shot 51.6 percent (33-of-64) from the floor, including 8-of-14 from behind the arc, while C-N shot just 38.7 percent (24-of-62) on the night.
The Eagles fall to 6-13 overall and 3-5 in the SAC. Newberry improves its record to 16-4 on the season and 6-3 in the conference.
Junior forward Joey Cameron (Tuskegee, Ala.) tallied a game-high 26 points, pulled down eight rebounds and had four blocks to lead the Eagles. Jordan Dixon (Clinton, Tenn.) added 14 points, while Jesse McMurray netted 10 in the loss.
Newberry had five players finish in double figures in scoring led by Matt Alexander's 21-point performance. Vytautas Valiulis tossed in 12 points, including three 3-pointers. Jesse Wheeler and Clemente Martin had 14 points each, while Brett Goodwell added 11 in the win.
The Eagles forced 26 turnovers on the night, including 16 steals, but Newberry made up for the miscues by outrebounding C-N 44-30 with 19 being offensive rebounds.
C-N jumped out to an early 7-3 lead on a jumper by Andrew Johnson (Cairo, Ga.), but Newberry fought back to take an 11-9 lead on a Martin layup with 17:16 remaining.
Newberry led for the remainder of the half, pushing its lead to as much as 11 points on three different occasions with the last being at 36-25 after a layup by Valiulis with 7:20 left.
However, the Eagles then went on a 13-4 run to cut the deficit down to 40-38 at the half.
Cameron made a layup to open the second half and tie the game at 40-40, but Vytautas drilled a 3-pointer at the other end to put Newberry back on top 43-40.
Newberry then pushed its lead to 58-51 on a jumper by Wheeler with 13:48 remaining.
C-N was able to trim the deficit down to one at 69-68 on a layup by Dixon with 7:20 left, but Newberry quickly pushed its lead to 76-68 on a tip-in by Wheeler at the 5:26 mark.
The Eagles were able to pull to within two at 83-81 on a 3-pointer by McMurray with 58 seconds left, but Newberry went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line down the stretch to seal the win.
C-N will return to the hardwood on Saturday, Feb. 7 at Mars Hill in a SAC matchup. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.
