MARS HILL, N.C. --- Tusculum's Jalen Walker recorded his first double-double with career-highs of 23 points and 10 rebounds as the Pioneers used a late 16-2 run en route to a 96-87 South Atlantic Conference road win over Mars Hill Thursday night at Stanford Arena.
The Pioneers (3-16, 2-11 SAC) placed five players in double figures as Tusculum captures its second victory in the last three games while also snapping a 17-game road losing streak.
Walker shot 11-of-12 from the free throw line, while also dishing out five assists for the visitors.
Darius Carter added 19 points, three assists and three steals, while Neal Spinks shot 7-of-9 from the floor for his 14 points off the bench. Addison Flynn finished with 13 points and five assists, while Keith Jumper accounted for 11 markers, three rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.
Mars Hill's Devonte Williams led all scorers with 25 points to go along with his game-high 11 assists to add to his conference leading total. Isaiah Cuthbertson also recorded a double-double with his 17 points and 12 rebounds, while Carter Wright and Will White finished with 15 and 11 points, respectively.
The lead exchanged hands six times in the opening half before the Lions (3-15, 1-12 SAC) close out the period with a 16-8 run to take a 48-41 lead into the locker room.
MHU would maintain their advantage through the first nine minutes of the second half, including a 61-55 lead following a Kevin Haynes' three-pointer. But TC responded with five straight points from Flynn, including a pair of free throws and a three-pointer to cut the Mars Hill lead to 61-60 with 14 minutes remaining.
The two teams traded baskets before TC's Matt Shown tied it with his driving layup to knot the game at 66-66 with 10:42 left in the game. It marked the contest's first tie since the score was locked at 28-28 at the 7:43 mark of the first period.
Shown would give Tusculum's first lead following a pair of free throws with 10:20 left as the Pioneers led 70-68.
Mars Hill would later regain the lead thanks to a Thomas Anderson bucket with 7:08 remaining. Tusculum answered with a 16-2 run over the next four minutes as the Pioneers led 91-78 with 3:07 left on the clock.
Tusculum would record its last made field goal with 4:46 left following a Spinks' layup that was part of a 7-0 TC run. The Pioneers would only get to attempt three more field goals tries for the remainder of the game as the Lions sent Tusculum to the free throw stripe. TC made 11 of its final 14 free throw attempts down the stretch, including eight in a row by Walker.
Tusculum finished the contest shooting 68.6 percent from the charity stripe, including 19-of-26 (73.1%) in the second half. Mars Hill went 18-of-29 from the free throw line on the night, but just 10-of-20 in the second half.
Tusculum ended the game shooting 50 percent from the field, including 17-of-31 in the second half (54.8%) as the Pioneers outscored the Lions by a 55-39 margin in the second half.
Mars Hill out-rebounded Tusculum by a 43-38 margin, but the Pioneers outscored the Lions in the paint (50-36), points off turnovers (28-16), second-chance points (16-12) and bench points (26-18).
Tusculum returns home Saturday for a 4 p.m. contest against Queens University of Charlotte. TC begins a string of three-straight home games and will play at Pioneer Arena in six of its final nine regular-season contests.
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