HICKORY, N.C. --- The Tusculum College men's basketball team rallied from a 13-point deficit in defeating Lenoir-Rhyne University 85-76 in overtime Saturday afternoon at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium. The victory was the 200th career win for Tusculum head coach Michael Jones.
Cory Fagan drained a three-pointer with 2.3 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game and nearly hit a 30-footer at the buzzer as the Pioneers (5-19, 5-14 SAC) came up with the steal on the in-bounds pass by the Bears (8-16, 6-14 SAC).
Tusculum junior Javon Price led all scorers with 27 points, including seven 3-pointers, while Zach Davis poured in 17 points off the bench, all coming in the second half and the overtime period. Matt Shown posted his eighth double-double of the year with 12 points and a season-high 16 rebounds. Chase Mounce finished with 12 points and six rebounds, while Fagan added nine markers, all coming from beyond the three-point arc.
Lenoir-Rhyne place five players in double figures, including 17 points each by Will Perry and Reed Lucas. Justice Morgan tallied 14 points, while Billy Bales and Jake Wilson accounted for 11 points each. Wilson also tallied 10 rebounds and a game-high seven blocked shots.
The Bears used a 10-1 run in the second half to take its largest lead of the afternoon at 55-42 with 9:13 left in regulation following a Lucas three-point play.
Tusculum responded with a 19-6 spurt and tied the game at 61-61 thanks to a pair of Davis free throws with 2:53 left in the second half.
L-R got four straight points from Perry to extend the lead to 65-61 with 41 seconds left in the contest.
The Pioneers trimmed the deficit to one as Shown converted a three-point play on TC's ensuing possession with 28 seconds remaining as the Pioneers trailed 65-64. Two seconds later, Perry was fouled as he went to the line and made both of his free throw attempts to extend the lead back to three (67-64).
With 17 seconds on the clock, Mounce made a layup to get the Pioneers back to within one (67-66). TC had to foul Perry again as he connected on two more free throws to give L-R a 69-66 advantage with 15 seconds to go.
After a Tusculum timeout, the Pioneers worked the ball around and found Fagan at the top of the key as he drained the game-tying three-pointer with 2.3 seconds left on the clock. After a L-R timeout, junior Johnathan Knight tipped the in-bounds pass which was hauled in by Fagan as he launched a 30-footer that was on-line but hit the front of the rim sending the game into overtime.
The two teams played to double-overtime in the season's first meeting between the Pioneers and the Bears, which Lenoir-Rhyne prevailed 88-85 in Greeneville.
Tusculum won the opening tip in extra time and Fagan began where he left off as he connected on the go-ahead three-pointer 10 seconds into overtime period to give the Pioneers 72-69 advantage, a lead they would not surrender.
In the overtime, Tusculum outscored the Bears by a 16-7 margin as TC shot 4-of-6 from the floor, including 2-of-3 from three-point territory and went 6-of-9 at the free throw line. Lenoir-Rhyne made only one field goal in its seven attempts and shot 4-of-10 from the charity stripe in the extra period.
Price has connected on 80 three-pointers this season, which are the eighth most in Tusculum history. For Price, it was his sixth 20-point performance of the year as he has now connected on trey in 16 consecutive games.
Tusculum returns to action on Monday as the Pioneers travel to Mars Hill University for an 8 p.m. contest at Burt Stanford Arena. This is a rescheduled game from last Wednesday due to the winter storm that has hit the region. The Mars Hill game will be the first three straight games in as many days. TC will host Bluefield State College on Tuesday followed by Wednesday's home finale against Anderson University.
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