GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Newberry College men's basketball team placed five players in double figure scoring as the Wolves defeated Tusculum College 88-78 Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Arena.

Mitch Riggs led all scorers with 21 points, while Xavier Holmes added 18 points and game-highs with three blocked shots and four steals for the Wolves (16-8, 10-8 SAC). Brandon Taylor posted a double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds, while Gerald Evans and Demarkus Smith tallied 15 and 10 points, respectively.

The Pioneers (4-19, 4-14 SAC) also had five players reached double-digit scoring. Mason Fox scored a career-best 17 points, while also tallying seven boards, four assists and four steals. Cory Fagan also contributed 17 points shooting 5-of-7 from three-point territory. Javon Price added 15 points with a pair of treys, while Matt Shown recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

TC's Chase Mounce posted 14 points and seven rebounds, snapping his string of five-game run of contests with a double-double.

Newberry forced 20 turnovers on 13 steals, resulting into 21 points. The Wolves also shined at the free throw line, going 25-for-30 (83.3%), including 84.2 percent in the second half (16-of-19).

Tusculum started the game on fire scoring the first 11 points of the game, including two 3-pointers by Price and a Fox trifecta in the opening 2:32 of the contest. The Wolves responded with a 9-2 spurt to trim the deficit to 13-9 following a James Stepp three-pointer with 13:49 left in the half.

The Wolves narrowed the game to three points (18-15), but the Pioneers answered with a Shown layup and Fagan trey to extend the TC lead to 23-15 at the 9:30 mark.

Newberry followed with nine unanswered point to take its first lead of the afternoon at 24-23 with 5:32 left in the period. Holmes converted a three-point play while Brandon Taylor and Stepp knocked down one 3-pointer each during the run.

Fagan stopped the run with trey as TC regained the advantage at 26-24. With Tusculum leading 28-26, the Wolves closed out the half on a 12-6 run in the final 2:15 to take a 36-32 lead into the locker room.

In the second half, the Wolves opened up a double-digit lead at 50-40 following an Evans three-pointer with 15:22 left in the half. TC would trim the deficit to a single point at 55-54 thanks to a 14-5 spurt as Shown capped the run with his layup with 11:56 to go.

With Newberry leading 59-58, the Wolves scored six straight points to increase the lead to 65-58 with 8:25 left. TC bounced back with a 7-1 run to trim the deficit once again to one at 66-65 with 6:11 as Fox made one of two free throws.

Newberry put the game out of reach with a decisive 11-1 run capped off by Riggs second trey of the day to lead 77-67 with 3:26 left. TC rookie Gunnar Beamer drained a three-pointer on the Pioneers' next possession, but NBY closed out with a 9-2 run down the stretch to secure the victory.

Tusculum won by the shooting and rebounding battles. The Pioneers shot 47.3 percent for the game, including 14-of-27 in the second half. Newberry fired on a 41.5 percent clip in the game. On the boards, the Pioneers edged the Wolves 38-36 in rebounding.

The Pioneers return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Mars Hill University for an 8 p.m. contest at Burt Stanford Arena.

- TC -