GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Rob Troutman poured in 21 points to lead the Tusculum College men's basketball team to an 86-79 victory over visiting Mars Hill College Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Arena.

The Pioneers (8-10, 5-3 SAC) roared out to a 20-point lead at the half, but had to vend off a physical, comeback effort by the Lions (5-11, 2-6 SAC) in a second period that included 34 fouls and 50 free throw attempts, combined by the two teams.

Tusculum junior Kevin Vest accounted for a season-high 19 points, while shooting a perfect 12-of-12 from the free throw line, including all 10 of his attempts in the second half. Sophomore Brett Williams posted a season-best 14 points off the bench, while junior Tommy Klempin finished with 13 points for the Pioneers.

Mars Hill's Donterious Hughes tallied 19 points, while Julian Mack added 16 markers, including 12-of-12 shooting from the free throw stripe. Dion Malachi added 10 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots in the loss.

Tusculum finished the game shooting 61.1 percent from the floor, including 15-of-23 in the opening period as the Pioneers led 45-25 at halftime. In that first half, Mars Hill shot 22.6 percent, going 0-for-8 from three-point territory. In that first half, the Pioneers got a balanced scoring effort as eight different players found the scoring column by the intermission.

But in the second half, Mars Hill scored the first seven points of the frame, including a three-point play by Sammy Emile and back-to-back jumpers by Hughes as the Lions cut the deficit to 45-32 with 18:26 left. Trailing by 15 (50-35), MHC followed with another 7-0 spurt, also sparked by Hughes as he hit a three-pointer and a lay-up, followed by a basket by Mack as the Lions now trailed 50-42 with 14:32 remaining.

Tusculum responded later with a 5-0 run as Klempin converted a lay-up and Troutman buried a three-point basket to move the Pioneers up 57-44 with 12:21 on the clock.

The contest became very physical as Tusculum was sent to the line in a 6-0 run by the Pioneers in a span of 1:35 as Williams made four straight free throws and Troutman added a pair as Tusculum led 64-48 with 9:52 remaining on the scoreboard.

The Lions would peck away at the lead and following a 6-0 run, capped off by a Marshall Adam three-pointer, Mars Hill trailed by eight (69-61) with 5:41 left.

Mars Hill would cut the Tusculum led six at 77-71 following a pair of Tarron Stewart free throws with 2:27 remaining. But Vest sparked a TC 5-0 run including a three-pointer and a pair of free throws as the Pioneers led 82-71 with 1:01 remaining. Mars Hill would trim the deficit to 84-79 with 10.2 seconds left, but that is as close as the Lions would get.

Tusculum finished the game shooting 38-of-48 from the free throw line (79.2%), including 24-of-30 in the second half (80%). Mars Hill fired 28-of-36 (77.8%) from the charity stripe, including 17-of-20 (85%) in the final period.

The Lions won the rebound battle by a 36-33 margin, including 23-7 on the offensive glass. MHC also converted 29 points off Tusculum turnovers, including 26 in the final period.

Tusculum hosts Lenoir-Rhyne University this Wednesday for an 8 p.m. contest at Pioneer Arena. Mars Hill will be at Catawba this Wednesday at 8 p.m.

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