GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tusculum College used a pair of 16-3 runs in the second half as the Pioneers rallied from a 12-point deficit to knock off Anderson University 72-68 Wednesday night in South Atlantic Conference men's basketball action at Pioneer Arena.
With the victory, Tusculum (9-12, 6-9 SAC) gains the season-split with the Trojans (9-12, 7-8 SAC) avenging December's 84-71 loss at Anderson. TC remains in ninth place in the conference standings, but moves into within one game of AU and Newberry College, who are tied for seventh.
Tusculum's Kendall Patterson led the Pioneers with 20 points while knocking down three 3-pointers, including back-to-back treys in TC's second 16-3 run of the game to take the lead for good at 58-55 with 3:34 remaining.
TC senior Zach Davis added 17 points and six rebounds, while Ronnie Baylark contributed 11 points, including 9-of-10 shooting from the free throw line.
AU's Andrew Boynton led all scorers with 22 points, including 14 in the first half as he finished the game with five 3-pointers. Carlos Dotson was a beast in the paint with his double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds, while teammate Jeremy Bouton added 11 points in the loss.
Anderson played a stifling defense in the first half forcing TC into 13 turnovers, resulting into 11 points as the Trojans took a 33-28 lead into the locker room. AU led by double digits on three occasions in the first 20 minutes including 33-22 at the 2:02 mark of the period following Boynton's fourth 3-pointer of the half as he posted 14 points at the break. TC cut into the deficit thanks to back-to-back baskets by Davis and a layup from Patterson as TC trailed by five.
The Trojans opened the second period with an 11-4 run in the opening 4:34 to take its largest lead of the game at 44-32 with 15:26 to go following Boynton's fifth 3-pointer of the night.
Tusculum erupted for a 16-3 run over a 5:49 span with Baylark giving the Pioneers a 48-47 lead by making one of two free throws with 9:35 remaining on the scoreboard.
Anderson responded with an 8-4 run to retake the lead following Boynton's fast-break basket as the Trojans went ahead 55-50 with 5:45 left. TC scored eight in a row including a Chase Mounce layup Patterson's consecutive three-pointers as TC went up by three (58-55) with 3:34 on the clock.
AU's Shawn Benard connected on a pair of free throws with 3:16 to go to trim the deficit to one (58-57).
But the shot of the night may have come from senior Cory Fagan as he buried his first and only 3-pointer of the night with 2:56 to go for a 61-57 Tusculum lead. It would be Fagan's only trifecta of the contest, but good enough to extend his school-record streak to 37 consecutive games with a three-point field goal.
After the Trojans made one of two free throws, TC scored five unanswered thanks to Davis' second three-point play of the game and a clutch layup by rookie Brandon Dansoh for TC's largest lead of the game at 66-58 with two minutes left.
Anderson cut the TC lead in half with four free throws including two from Chase Prandy to make the score 66-62 with 1:11 remaining.
Patterson converted layup and after a critical offensive foul by Anderson, Baylark canned two free throws put the Pioneers ahead by eight again at 70-62 with 40.4 seconds left. The Trojans would not go away as Howard scored a bucket, which was followed by a Dotson steal, resulting in another Howard layup for his second field goal in 23 seconds as TC led 70-66 with 17 seconds left. Davis was fouled with 11.1 seconds remaining as he put the game away with his two free throws.
After committing 13 turnovers in the first half, Tusculum committed only three miscues in the final period. TC out-scored Anderson 40-28 in the paint, while also holding a 17-7 advantage in bench scoring.
Tusculum finished the game shooting 47.3 percent, while limiting Anderson to 36.5 percent for the game, including 6-of-22 from three-point territory.
TC freshman Caleb Hodnett had a solid game as he posted nine points and team-high nine rebounds off the bench as the Pioneers out-rebounded the Trojans by a 40-35 margin.
Tusculum will host Lenoir-Rhyne University on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Pioneer Arena. TC will be looking to avenge an 84-71 road loss to the Bears earlier this season.
