BREVARD, N.C. --- Tusculum's Cory Fagan hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 47 seconds left while the Pioneers held off a furious Brevard rally, including a game-tying three-point try that went in after the buzzer as TC edged the host Tornados 86-83 Tuesday night at Boshamer Gymnasium.
Tusculum (4-1, 2-0 SAC) continues its early season trend in rallying from a second half deficit while scoring the game-winning bucket in the final minute of the game, something TC has done in three of its four victories this year.
The Pioneers trailed 60-51 with 12 minutes remaining in the game, but used a 17-4 run sparked by the rookie trio of Trey Blevins, Caleb Hodnett and Keaton Dotson as they accounted for 15 of TC's 17 points during the spurt. Hodnett scored six of his season-high 12 points during the run, while Blevins connected on back-to-back three pointers, including his trey with 7:11 remaining to give TC a 66-64 advantage.
After a BC bucket, Dotson extended the run with his three-pointer with 5:52 to go as TC led 71-66. Brevard regained the lead with six straight free throws, including a pair by Shelbey Parris with 4:19 remaining as the Tornados (0-5, 0-1 SAC) led 72-71.
A bucket by Dotson regained the lead for Tusculum, but Brevard's DJ Bostick answered with one of his own as the hosts led 74-73 with 3:43 to go. Hodnett buried a three-pointer with 2:53 left on the clock to give the Pioneers the lead at 76-74, but Evan Dunham followed with a long jumper from the top of the key 15 seconds later as the score was deadlocked at 76-76.
Dotson calmly knocked down his second trey of the evening from the right corner as Tusculum led 79-76 with 2:08 left. But Bostick tied it again for BC with his three-pointer from the left wing as the score was knotted up at 79-79 with 1:43 remaining in the game.
Hodnett broke the deadlock with his dunk on an alley-oop pass from Kendall Patterson at the 1:22 mark, but El Diraoui made his layup as the score was tied 81-81 with 59.9 seconds to go.
After a timeout, the stage was set as the Pioneers worked for a shot and Zach Davis found Fagan on the left wing and connected on his third 3-pointer of the night as TC led 84-81 with 47 seconds remaining.
Brevard missed on its three-point try as Patterson came down with the rebound. But he would miss the front end of the one-and-one bonus and Stevie Williams made a driving layup to trim the deficit to 84-83 with 14.7 seconds remaining.
Patterson was fouled again, but this time the senior made both of his free throws giving Tusculum an 86-83 lead with 13.8 seconds left.
Dunham's three-point attempt was short, but was deflected out to Williams on the right wing, but his trifecta try, which went in, clearly came after the final horn.
Tusculum placed six players in double figure scoring led by Ronnie Baylark's 15-point performance as he went 5-of-6 from three-point territory with five rebounds and three assists. Hodnett and Chase Mounce each finished with 12 points, while Fagan added 11 points. Patterson posted 10 points and four assists, while Dotson added 10 markers and six rebounds.
Tusculum trailed by 11 points in its season-opening win over Lees-McRae but got a three-pointer from Fagan with 5.1 seconds left. TC was behind by seven points in the second half in Saturday's SAC opener against Wingate, but Davis made a three-pointer with 47 seconds left to spark the Tusculum win.
Dunham led all scorers with his 25 points, going 10-of-14 from the floor, while Williams shot 10-of-16 for his 24 points. Bostick contributed 12 points, while El Diraoui added 10.
Tusculum shot 55.2 percent on the night, including a sizzling 61 percent in the second half. TC connected on 15-of-29 from three-point land for 52 percent and 7-of-8 from the free throw stripe (87.5%). Brevard shot 46.4 percent from the field, including 10-of-26 from beyond the three-point arc.
Tusculum held a 37-21 edge on the glass and had a 17-14 edge in assists. The Pioneers committed 17 turnovers on the evening, while Brevard only made five miscues.
Tuesday marks the Pioneers final regular-season visit to Boshamer Gymnasium as Brevard will be leaving the South Atlantic Conference and reclassifying to NCAA Division III at the end of the season. Tusculum head coach Michael Jones served as head coach of the Brevard program for 12 seasons (1999-2011), including its entry into the SAC.
The Pioneers will return to action on Dec. 3 when they host Catawba for a 4 p.m. league contest at Pioneer Arena.
