HARTSVILLE, S.C. --- Tusculum College used a 17-0 run to cut a 23-point deficit to just six with 18 seconds remaining, but Coker College held off the late rally and defeated the Pioneers 84-75 on Saturday afternoon in South Atlantic Conference men's basketball action at the DeLoach Center.

Chase Mounce, Matt Shown and Javon Price combined to score 62 points for the Pioneers (7-21, 6-16 SAC) in their season finale. Price had a team-high 23 points while shooting 4-of-9 from three-point territory. Mounce had 20 points and Shown added 19 to go with a team-high seven rebounds. Senior Mason Fox dished out eight assists in his final game at Tusculum.

Coker (12-14, 11-11 SAC) held an 81-58 lead with 4:24 to play in the game before TC reeled off 17 straight points to cut the lead to 81-75 with 18 seconds to go. Price had 13 of the 17 points during the stretch, and the Pioneer defense forced seven missed field goals by the Cobras and two turnovers.

Trailing by six with 18 seconds on the clock, TC was forced to foul to re-gain possession quickly. Coker's Erik Bethel was sent to the line and hit two free throws to push the lead to eight. In the next possession Bethel stole the ball away from Price and was quickly fouled. He went back to the line and hit one final free throw with six seconds to go to deny the Pioneers the improbable comeback and seal the Cobras' victory.

Bethel led all scorers with 29 points, while Coker's Donte Samuels and Trey Marshall scored 15 and 14 points respectively. Trey James pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.

Tusculum shot 50 percent from the field (27-of-65), slightly higher than the Cobras' 45.5 percent (30-66). Coker held a slim 38-34 rebounding advantage, while TC edged Coker 32-30 in points in the paint.

- TC -