GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tusculum College connected on a school and South Atlantic Conference single-game record 22 three-pointers to highlight the Pioneers' 113-78 victory over Mars Hill University Wednesday at Pioneer Arena in men's basketball action.
With the victory, Tusculum (12-15, 9-12 SAC) moves into a tie for the eighth and final spot in next week's SAC Tournament. TC joins Lenoir-Rhyne University with a 9-12 league mark, following the Bear's 94-81 home loss to 12th-ranked Queens University of Charlotte. The Pioneers and Bears will flip-flop opponents on Saturday with Tusculum traveling to Queens, while L-R will be at Mars Hill in the regular-season finales. If the two teams are still tied after Saturday's game, Tusculum would win the tiebreaker and advance to the league postseason for a second straight season.
The 22 treys matches the mark posted by Newberry College last season against Allen University. The 22 three-pointers are a new record against a conference opponent and are the most by a SAC team this season. TC's trey tally matches the NCAA Division II high this season, set by St. Joseph's (Ind.) College against Salem International (Nov. 25, 2016).
Tusculum shot 22-of-32 from beyond the three-point arc on Wednesday for a new TC record 68.8 percent, breaking the previous mark of 64.3 percent (9-of-14) at Newberry in 2010. The 22 trifectas breaks the previous program mark of 20 against Lees-McRae College on Feb. 16, 1998 in Pioneer Arena.
TC opened the game connecting on its first 10 three-point attempts and finished the half going 14-of-16 from downtown for a sizzling 87.5 percent.
Senior Kendall Patterson poured in a career-high 31 points in his final home game at Tusculum, with 24 of those coming in the first half to spark TC to a 62-32 lead at the intermission. He finished the night shooting 11-of-15 from the floor, including 8-of-10 from three-point land. The eight three-pointers are tied for the seventh most in a TC game.
Five Pioneers scored in double figures, including Patterson's 31, while Ronnie Baylark chipped a season-best 25 markers as he was near perfect, going 9-of-10 from the floor and 5-of-6 from three-point land. He also went 2-of-2 from the free throw line while chipping in three assists and three steals.
Senior Cory Fagan added 13 markers in his final game at Pioneer Arena as he led the team with seven rebounds and connected on three treys to extend his school record streak to 43 consecutive games with a made trifecta.
Senior Vincent Brown contributed 10 points off the bench as he went 3-of-3 from beyond the arc, while freshman Trey Blevins added a dozen markers to go along with his four assists and two steals.
The Pioneers finished the game with a season-high 30 assists on 40 made field goals. The 30 helpers are tied for the fifth-most in recorded school history. Patterson recorded six assists, while senior teammate Zach Davis dished out a career-best six helpers in this Pioneer Arena farewell.
Senior center Chase Mounce added four points, five assists and three blocked shots, giving him 124 rejections for his career, which are the third-most in Tusculum history.
Bennett Wilson led the Lions with his 15 points, while Cody Hylton and Makyle Wilkerson accounted for 12 and 10 points respectively off the bench.
Tusculum opened the game with a 19-5 run in the opening 4:27 including as the Pioneers connected on eight of their first 10 shots, including two treys each from Fagan and Patterson. MHU trimmed the deficit back to single digits with five straight points including a layup from Wilkerson and a three-pointer by Indiana Rotondo.
TC pushed the lead back out to double digits and closed out the half with a 21-5 run in the final 7:16 to take a 30-point lead into the locker room.
The Pioneers finished the game shooting 40-of-70 from the floor for 57.1 percent while also going 11-of-15 from the free throw line (73.3%). Tusculum out-rebounded the Lions by a 40-36 margin and scored 29 points off of MHU's 16 miscues.
The 113 points are the most by a Pioneer club since scoring 116 markers in a 116-101 home win over Wingate University on Feb. 5, 2005. The 113 points are tied for the most in the 60-game history against Mars Hill, matching the offensive output in TC's 113-80 win over the Lions on Nov. 19, 1997. With Wednesday's victory, the Pioneers tie the all-time series against Mars Hill at 30-30.
