HICKORY, N.C. --- Kyle Moore poured in 26
points and established a pair of league single-season records in
the process to lead the third-seeded Tusculum College men's
basketball team to a 79-61 win over No. 2 Newberry College in the
semifinal round of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference
Tournament Saturday night. The event is being held at the Catawba
Valley Community College Arena.
With the victory, the Pioneers (20-9) advance to Sunday's
championship game as they will face No. 4 seed Catawba College at 4
p.m. with the winner earning the league's automatic berth to next
week's NCAA Division II Tournament. For Tusculum, it will be its
first trip to the title game since 2005, resulting in a Pioneer win
and the program's first trip to the NCAA postseason.
Tusculum also clinched the first 20-win season since the 1992-93
campaign.
Moore, the SAC Player of the Year, went 6-for-8 from the floor,
including 3-of-4 from three-point territory. He has tallied 91
three-point field goals this season, which are a new league best,
surpassing the previous record held by former Tusculum standout
Bobby Ewing (89 in 2004-05). Moore also went 8-for-8 from the
charity stripe, giving him 198 made free throws this season, which
is also a new SAC season mark (Daniel Willis - 195 in 2000-01).
Rob Troutman and Ryan Troutman
accounted for 13 and 11 points, respectively, while Josh
Bennett added 10 points and six rebounds off the bench.
Ryan Troutman also hauled in six rebounds and dished out a
game-high eight assists on the evening.
All-SAC standout Clemente Martin led Newberry
with his game-high 26 points as he shot 8-for-15 from the floor,
3-of-5 from beyond the arc and 7-of-9 from the foul line.
Brett Goodwell finished with 14 points, while
Grand Domsic added six markers in the loss.
Tusculum went on a 16-3 run in the first half, capped off by a
three-pointer by Jimmy Boone as the Pioneers led
31-15 with 4:26 remaining in the period. During that span, Newberry
was held scoreless for over eight minutes as the Scarlett &
Gray missed nine straight shots and a pair of free throws.
Tusculum would eventually take a 36-22 lead into the intermission
as TC shot 14-for-23 in the opening 20 minutes, including 5-of-8
from the foul line. The Pioneers also out-rebounded Newberry by a
20-10 margin at the break, while limiting NC to 32 percent shooting
in the period.
Newberry would come out in the second half with a 10-4 spurt to
trim the deficit to single-digits at 40-32 following a basket by
Matt Alexander with 15:26 left in the game.
Tusculum would answer with a 7-0 run, including a dunk by Bennett
and a three-point by Rob Troutman as TC extended its advantage to
52-36 at the 11:36 mark. NC would trim the deficit to single digits
again with a 10-2 run that included a Martin trey and a Vytautas
Valiulis jumper with 7:33 remaining.
But the Pioneers would put the game away with a 16-5 spurt over
the final five minutes to take their largest lead of the night at
79-56.
Tusculum finished the game shooting 56.8 percent, including
9-of-16 from three-point land (56.3%). TC also fired 80 percent
from the foul line, including 17-of-18 in the second half
(94.4%).
- SAC -