HARTSVILLE, S.C. --- James West IV scored a career-high 26 while hitting eight 3-pointers in leading the Tusculum University men's basketball team to an 81-67 wire-to-wire South Atlantic Conference victory over Coker University Saturday afternoon at the DeLoach Center.
The Pioneers (11-4, 11-4 SAC) win their fifth straight game and remain in third place in the league standings with a .733 won-loss percentage.
West went 8-of-14 from three-point territory including 5-of-9 in the first half as Tusculum raced out to a 54-26 at the intermission. Tusculum shot a blistering 10-of-18 from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes while Coker shot 38 percent from the field and missed all six of their long-range attempts.
TU's Trenton Gibson score all 16 of his points in the first half as he nearly posted his second career triple-double as he tallied eight assists and nine rebounds in the victory. He also recorded four steals and went 4-of-5 from the free throw line.
Tusculum senior forward Brandon Mitchell posted two blocked shots to give him 159 for his career, tying the program record set by former All-SAC standout Brad Hawks (2001-2004). He finished the game with seven points and six rebounds.
Justin Mitchell added nine points, while Keaston Brown and Zack Dixon accumulated six and five points, respectively off the bench.
Coker's Williams Onyeodi led the Cobras with 20 points, while Anthony Thomas finished with 10 markers in the win.
Tusculum scored the first 10 points of the game as Coker went scoreless in the first 3:52. With TU ahead 12-4 with 14:14 on the clock, the Pioneers outscored the Cobras 42-22 to close out the period and take a 28-point into the locker room.
Tusculum maintained the huge lead through most of the second half, before the Cobras close out the final three minutes with a 9-0 run to trim the deficit to 81-67.
The Pioneers dominated the glass once again by a 46-40 margin including 15-8 on the offensive end. TU forced 14 turnovers resulting into 20 points for the visitors.
Tusculum will close out the regular season on Wednesday, hosting Lenoir-Rhyne University for a 5:30 p.m. contest.