GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Kevin Vest recorded 23 points and the Tusculum College men's basketball used a 22-5 first half run en route to a 70-54 South Atlantic Conference victory over Lenoir-Rhyne University Wednesday night at Pioneer Arena.

The Pioneers (10-15, 7-10 SAC) avenge last month's four-point loss to the Bears, while moving within one game of fifth place in the league standings. L-R (12-14, 8-9) drops to a tie for fifth in the SAC with Carson-Newman and is one-game behind fourth-place Newberry.

Vest shot 9-of-13 from the floor and 3-of-6 from three-point territory, while grabbing five rebounds and recording four steals. Justin Steigerwald added 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists, while Tommy Klempin tallied 12 points, nine boards and shot a perfect 6-of-6 from the field.

The Bears (12-14, 8-9 SAC) were led by Allen Jones 21 points, as he fired 8-of-15 from the field, while D.J. Blackmon added 13 points, six rebounds and four assists in the loss.

The Pioneers (10-15, 7-10 SAC) scored 13 unanswered points in a span of 5:27 during their 22-5 first half spurt and led by as many as 19 on three different occasions before taking a 38-22 into the intermission.

"I'm very pleased with how we came out of the blocks. We were clicking as a team and we made some shots and I thought we were very good on the offensive boards in the first half as well," said Tusculum head coach Michael Jones.

Tusculum jumped out to a 15-8 lead to start the contest, thanks to three 3-pointers, including a pair of Nicholas Spinks, who finished with eight markers.

The Bears answered in the opening moments in the second period as L-R scored 11 straight points, sparked by a Kevin Davis' three-pointer to start the half and draw the visitors to within 38-33 with 16:33 remaining in the contest.

While L-R was hitting on all cylinders to start the second half, Tusculum was not as the Pioneers committed three turnovers and missed its only shot attempt in the first 3:30 of the period.

"We weren't very good offensively coming out of the locker room," Coach Jones added. "The zone gave us some problems, but we made some adjustments and Kevin Vest made some huge steals for us down the stretch to keep us out in front."

TC bounced back with five points from Vest including a three-pointer and a steal-and-a-layup as the Pioneers pushed out to a 43-33 lead.

Tusculum would move out to an 11-point advantage at 46-35 following Steigerwald's three-point play with 14:17 left on the clock. But L-R fought back with six straight points, including Allan Jones' three-point play as TC now led 46-41 with 12:54 remaining.

With TC holding onto a 50-45 lead with 9:24 left, the Pioneers responded with a 6-0 run of its own, including back-to-back baskets by Klempin and a Vest jumper as Tusculum vaulted to a 56-45 with 6:38 left.

The Bears cut the deficit back to within seven (56-49) following consecutive field goals by Jones, but Vest fired back with five straight points, including his trey with 3:24 remaining to give the Pioneers a double-digit lead at 61-49 and ending the L-R rally.

Tusculum finished the game shooting 56.5 percent from the floor, including 12-of-20 in the second half (60%). TC won the rebounding battle by a 29-21 margin and out-scored the Bears in every team statistical category including points in the paint (32-22), points off turnovers (20-13), second-chance points (11-7), fast break points (8-6) and bench points (13-3).

Lenoir-Rhyne shot well from the free throw line going 15-of-17 for 88.2 percent, including 11-of-13 in the second half (84.6%).

Tusculum will close out the regular season on Saturday when the Pioneers host Mars Hill College for a 4 p.m. contest. It will be the final home game for Tusculum seniors Tommy Klempin, Justin Steigerwald, Anton Tuz and Kevin Vest.

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