NEWBERRY, S.C. --- Junior guard Javon Price scored a season-high 26 points but the Tusculum College men's basketball team fell 88-80 to Newberry College on Saturday after leading late in the game. Sophomore center Chase Mounce added 21 points for the Pioneers (1-10, 1-5 South Atlantic Conference).

Newberry (11-1, 5-1), who received votes in the latest NCAA DII Coaches Poll, outscored TC 18-9 in the final five minutes of the game after trailing by a point with 5:21 to play. Demarkus Smith led the Wolves with 26 points while Mitch Riggs added 16.

Price was 9-of-19 from the field including five made three-pointers, which matched a season-high. Sophomore guard Zach Davis finished with 14 points off the bench while sophomore guard Corey Fagan tallied 12 points on four three-pointers. Mounce pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.

After Tusculum led by two at the half, back-to-back three pointers by the Wolves pushed their lead to 59-51 with 11:13 to play. However, TC responded with an 8-0 run to knot the game at -59. After a layup by Smith, Price hit layups in back-to-back possessions to give the Pioneers their first lead of the second half at 63-61 with 8:56 remaining.

TC led by three after a Mason Fox free throw, but a Smith three-pointer tied the game at 67 with 6:43. After a missed jumper by Price, Smith nailed another three ball to break the tie and push the Wolves' advantage to 70-67 with six minutes to play. In the next possession, TC's Gunnar Beamer hit one-of-two free throws to cut the lead down to two points.

Price picked up a steal on the other side of the court and then found Fagan in transition for a three-pointer that gave TC its final lead of the game at 71-70 with 5:21 to play. Newberry scored the next five points, but only led by two with 3:54 to play after a layup and a free throw by Fox.

The Wolves scored in their next three possessions, including a three point play by Smith, and recorded their largest lead of the half with the score at 85-77 with just over a minute to play. TC cut the lead to five after a layup by Mounce with 26 seconds remaining, but converted three free throws in the final seconds to hang on to the eight-point victory.

The Pioneers shot a season-high 52 percent from the field on 27-of-52 shooting and held the Wolves to just 38 percent from the field (27-of-72). TC also shot 45 percent from behind the arc (10-of-22) which was the second best total this season. Newberry out-rebounded TC 54-32 including a 23-4 advantage on the offensive boards. Tusculum held a narrow 34-30 advantage in points in the paint.

TC led the entire first half including a 24-9 advantage with 12:19 to play in the first half, the Pioneers largest lead of the game. However, Newberry finished the first frame on an 8-2 run and cut the lead 37-35 at the break.

Tusculum will play at home for the first time in 2015 on Wednesday night (Jan. 7) when it hosts Brevard at 8 p.m. inside Pioneer Arena.