GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Kyle Moore recorded his second straight 31-point performance to lead the Tusculum College men's basketball team to a 61-56 South Atlantic Conference victory over Lenoir-Rhyne University Monday night at Pioneer Arena. It was the Pioneers' (12-8, 6-3 SAC) fourth straight win, while completing the season sweep over the Bears (3-16, 1-8 SAC). The victory, coupled with Mars Hill College's road win at Brevard College has forced a four-way tie for first place in the league standings, including Tusculum, Mars Hill, Brevard and Lincoln Memorial University.
Moore matched a career-high with nine 3-pointers as he went 9-of-20 from the floor, all from behind the arc. Josh Bennett tallied a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Jimmy Boone added nine markers, all coming from three-point land.
Lenoir-Rhyne was led by D.J. Blackmon as he finished with 16 points, five rebounds and five assists, while Jon Hathcock and Jeff Thomas accounted for 11 and 10 points, respectively.
In the first half, the Bears used an 18-2 run over an eight-minute span to lead by a dozen, 28-16 with 3:59 left in the period. Hathcock helped spark the run with six points during the L-R stretch.
Tusculum battled back as Moore single-handedly willed the Pioneers back with a 9-0 run, all on three 3-pointers in the final 3:50, including his left-corner jumper with two seconds before halftime as TC trailed 28-25 at the break. Moore finished the opening half with 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting from downtown.
The Bears played a stifling zone defense that limited the Pioneers to mostly three-point shots as TC shot 36 percent from the floor (9-of-25) with 18 of its 25 field goal attempts coming from beyond the arc. L-R fired 45 percent from field and 8-of-12 from the charity stripe.
The Pioneers knotted the game at 28-28 on its opening possession of the second period as Bennett converted a three-point play 12 seconds into the half. TC would lead 36-33 with 14:47 left following a tip-in by Bennett.
The Bears answered with eight unanswered points as Matt Kunz, Nathaniel Shaw, Spenser Sydney and Blackmon each converted on four straight field goals as L-R went ahead 41-36 with 10:06 remaining.
Tusculum responded with a Bennett lay-up and a Boone three to tie the game at 41-41, 29 second later. The Pioneers got back-to-back threes by Boone and Moore, but Blackmon countered with consecutive threes as TC led 53-52 with 1:53 remaining.
Justin Steigerwald and Bennett each made a pair of free throws as Tusculum now led 57-52 with 35.9 seconds left on the clock. Blackmon added two free throws with 20 seconds left to trim the deficit to three (57-54). But Moore connected on four straight free throws down the stretch to seal the victory and Tusculum's first-ever season sweep over Lenoir-Rhyne.
Tusculum finished a perfect 13-of-13 at the free throw line, all in the second half. This marks the second time this season TC had gone perfect at the foul line (13-of-13 vs. Catawba, Jan. 9, 2010).
Steigerwald, who leads the conference in assists, added eight helpers in the victory.
Moore's nine-trey performance matches his career-best earlier this season against Lees-McRae College. It was also the Gainesville, Fla. native's fifth 30-point outing this season and 11th of his 79-game TC career.
Tusculum returns to action Wednesday night as the Pioneers travel to Harrogate, Tenn. to take on fellow SAC co-leader LMU for an 8 p.m. contest. Lenoir-Rhyne returns home on Wednesday to host conference co-front runner Brevard for an 8 p.m. tilt at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium.
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