NEWBERRY, S.C. --- Newberry College and Tusculum College both placed six players in double figures, but it was 23 points from the Wolves' Gerald Evans that lifted Newberry to a 110-101 victory in South Atlantic Conference men's basketball action Saturday afternoon at Eleazer Arena.
The Wolves (16-10, 11-9 SAC) hit 16 three-pointers as a team and scored 35 points off 26 Pioneer turnovers to overcome 58.8 percent shooting (40-for-68) from the field by Tusculum in the game. Newberry went 26-for-31 from the foul line in the game and came back from an early 10-point deficit to remain in sole possession of fifth place in the SAC standings with two games left in the regular season.
The Pioneers (11-14, 7-13 SAC) placed six players in double figures for the first time in almost exactly 11 years, since Feb. 19, 2005 at Newberry. Javon Price led Tusculum with 17 points while Chase Mounce had 16 points, Darius Carter 15, Vincent Brown a season-high 13 and Kendall Patterson and Zach Davis with 10 apiece. Brown added five rebounds, six assists and three steals for the Pioneers, while Davis had a team-high seven rebounds for Tusculum.
Despite the loss, the Pioneers remain two games ahead of Mars Hill for the eighth and final spot in the SAC Men's Basketball Tournament with two league games remaining. Tusculum plays at Mars Hill on Wednesday night before finishing their conference schedule next Saturday at home against Queens.
The Pioneers reached double figures in three-pointers for the third time in the last four games, shooting 14-for-26 from beyond the arc as a team. Price led Tusculum with five three-pointers while Brown and Patterson added three apiece. Over the last four games, the Pioneers are 51-for-110 (46.4 percent) from long range, including 20 from Price and nine from Patterson.
Newberry also had a balanced attack, as Brandon Taylor had 15 points, Mitch Riggs 14, Ronell Crockett 13, Xavier Hill 12 and James Stepp with 10. Taylor and Evans each had a team-high five rebounds while Riggs led the Wolves with four assists. Taylor, Evans and Mason Spease all hit three from long range for the Wolves, who went 9-for-25 from beyond the arc in the first half and 7-for-16 in the second half.
Patterson hit a three-pointer on the Pioneers' first possession of the game, while Brown hit two and Davis one during an 11-0 run that gave the Pioneers a 17-7 lead with 5 1/2 minutes gone in the first half. Tusculum continued to carry the lead until the latter stages of the half, when the Wolves went on an 8-0 run to go ahead 46-44 following two free throws from Evans with 1:37 left. Carter hit two free throws with four seconds remaining to send the teams to the half deadlocked at 50-50.
Evans led all players with 17 points in the first half on 4-for-7 shooting from the field, including 3-for-4 from three-point range, while Brown paced the Pioneers with 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting while adding four rebounds and four assists. Tusculum shot 20-for-30 (66.7 percent) from the field in the first half, including 6-for-10 on three-pointers, but committed 13 turnovers which led to 17 points for Newberry.
The teams swapped the lead several times in the opening portion of the second half, with Tusculum's final advantage at 67-65 on a putback by Carter with 14:30 remaining. Taylor tied the game with a layup on the Wolves' next possession, and Spease drained a three-pointer with 13:41 left to give Newberry the lead for good at 70-67. Tusculum trailed 72-71 on a layup by Mounce with 12:23 remaining, but an 11-2 run from the Wolves gave them an 86-75 lead with 9:01 left.
Newberry led by as many as 15 points at 95-80 with 6:40 remaining before Tusculum cut the margin to 105-98 on a three-pointer by Patterson with 37 seconds left. However, the Wolves went 7-for-8 from the foul line in the final minute to preserve the victory.
A three-pointer by Brown with 19 seconds remaining put the Pioneers over the 100-point mark in consecutive games for the first time since February 5 and 7, 2005 against Wingate (116) and North Greenville (100), and the first time that Tusculum has scored and allowed more than 100 in back-to-back games since January 22 and 25, 1997 against Oakland City (109-106 loss) and Spalding (120-115 win).
Patterson, who played just 18 minutes due to foul trouble, had five assists and two steals to go along with his 10 points. Price was on the court for just 17 minutes due to foul trouble, but still managed to take a team-high 11 shots while going 5-for-8 from three-point range. Carter played a game-high 36 minutes for the Pioneers and had 15 points on 5-for-9 shooting while going 5-for-6 at the foul line. Mounce shot 8-for-10 from the field in 25 minutes of action to move within 36 points of becoming the 24th player in program history to score 1,000 career points.
The Pioneers will host Bluefield State on Monday night at 7 p.m. at Pioneer Arena in their final non-conference game of the season. The game was originally scheduled for Monday, Feb. 15 but was postponed due to inclement weather. Tusculum won at Bluefield State 89-81 in the first meeting of the season on Nov. 19.
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