GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University men's basketball team used a 21-2 run in the second half to overcome an 11-point deficit in knocking off Lenoir-Rhyne University 78-67 Wednesday night in the South Atlantic Conference regular-season finale at Pioneer Arena.
Tusculum (12-4, 12-4 SAC) finishes in sole possession of third place in the league standing as the Pioneers head into the SAC postseason riding a six-game winning streak.
TU also ends the regular season with a perfect 7-0 home record and have won 11 straight at Pioneer Arena, its longest home winning streak since Tusculum won 17 straight home games from Feb. 17, 1978 to Nov. 12, 1979.
With Lincoln Memorial and UVA Wise out of the upcoming SAC Basketball Championship due to COVID protocols, the Pioneers will be the No. 2 seed in the tournament and will host a quarterfinal game this Monday (March 1) at 7:30 p.m. against an opponent yet to be determined.
Five TU players finished in double figure scoring on Wednesday including senior Brandon Mitchell as he tallied 13 points, nine rebounds while recording the 160th blocked shot of his career for a new program record. Mitchell went 6-of-10 from the floor as all of his scoring came in the second half including three dunks in the final minutes of the game in his final regular-season contest at home.
TU graduate student James West IV posted a team-high 18 markers to go along with five rebounds and three steals. Junior Trenton Gibson tallied 17 points and 12 rebounds for his third double-double of the season and eighth of his career. Sophomore Keaston Brown added 13 points on three 3-pointers and a career-high six assists in his 32 minutes off the bench. Freshman Inady Legiste contributed 10 points and seven rebounds in the win.
Lenoir-Rhyne's R.J. Gunn led all scorers with 28 points as he went 12-of-22 from the floor and hauled in a team-best eight rebounds. Darius Simmons added 14 points, while Armon Muldrew tallied eight points as the Bears drop to 8-6 in the league standings and suffer their third loss in a row and third straight set back to the Pioneers.
Trailing 9-5 early in the contest, the Pioneers went on a 13-0 run over span of 3:42 to take an 18-9 lead at the 11:07 mark of the first half. L-R trimmed the deficit one at 21-20 following a bucket by Gunn with 6:17 on the clock. TU pushed the lead back out to eight (32-24) thanks to a 10-4 spurt. The Bears scored seven straight including a Simmons triple with eight seconds remaining, but West dribbled the length of the court and hit a lay-up just before the buzzer as the Pioneers took a 34-31 lead into the locker room.
The Bears regained the lead on Muldrew's three-pointer at the 17:25 mark of the second half to take a 38-36 advantage and went on a 14-5 run midway through the half as Lenoir-Rhyne led 58-47 with 8:07 to go following an offensive rebound and dunk from Davion Bradford.
The Pioneers responded with 14 straight points over a 3:05 span as Mitchell gave the Pioneers the lead his layup with 5:25 remaining and a 59-58 lead. After an offensive foul on L-R, Tusculum got a Gibson basket as TU led 61-58 with under five minutes remaining. It would be a lead the Pioneers would not surrender.
Simmons stopped the run with a pair of free throws, but Mitchell answered with his first dunk of the evening on a fast-break. West came up with a steal and was fouled as he made both free throws and Brown connect on a huge triple with 2:04 left to complete TU's 21-2 run, covering 6:03.
Lenoir-Rhyne trimmed the deficit to five on two occasions, but the Pioneers made their free throws down the stretch to complete the comeback as this marks the eighth time in the last three season TU has overcome a 10-point deficit en route to a victory.
The Pioneers shot 42.3 percent from the field including 7-of-21 from three-point land (33.3%). The Bears went 26-of-62 for 42 percent and also connected on seven triples on 25 attempts (28%). Tusculum out-rebounded L-R by a 47-36 margin including 20-10 on the offensive glass. TU outscored the Bears 42-26 in the paint and held a 23-9 advantage in bench scoring and 19-8 in fast-break points.
