GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Trenton Gibson scored a game-high 22 points including three key free throws in overtime as the sixth-seeded Tusculum Pioneers upset No. 3 seed Carson-Newman 65-63 Saturday night in the NCAA Division II Southeast Region quarterfinal at Tex Turner Arena.
Tusculum (14-5) records its first-ever NCAA Tournament victory and will advance to Sunday's semifinal match-up against No. 2 seed and host Lincoln Memorial at 5 p.m.
The Pioneers avenge last week's 60-59 loss to the Eagles in the South Atlantic Conference semifinal, while also ending Carson-Newman's 11-game winning streak. The Eagles, who were also ranked 23rd in the country, become the second nationally-ranked team the Pioneers have defeated this season. TU knocked then eighth-ranked Lincoln Memorial, 90-74 last month in Greeneville.
Tusculum overcame a 12-point first half deficit, while also recording its first win this year when trailing at halftime (30-24).
Gibson finished the contest with team-highs of eight rebounds and five assists, while sophomore Joshua Scott shot 5-of-6 from the floor for his dozen points and the duo of Brandon Mitchell and Keason Brown each posted 10 markers in the victory.
C-N freshman Ren Dyer finished with 15 points and seven rebounds, EJ Bush had 14 points and Tripp Davis finished with 13 points and nine rebounds in the loss.
The Eagles scored the first five points of the game and led throughout the entire first period using an 11-3 run to take its largest lead of the game at 30-18 with 2:15 remaining in the half. Dyer sparked the run with five straight points.
Tusculum ended the half with a 6-0 run which including two free throws each from Brown and Gibson and a layup by James West IV as TU trailed 30-24 at the intermission.
TU carried the momentum into the second half and would take its first lead of the night on jumper by Brown as the Pioneers led 41-40 with 11:19 left in regulation. Gibson followed with a jumper to extend the TU advantage to 43-40, but a 6-0 run from the Eagles including two buckets from Bush in the paint gave C-N the lead once again at 46-43 with 9:19 to go.
The Pioneers answered with a 7-0 spark including a layup from Scott to bring TU within a point and Gibson hit a three-pointer with 8:42 remaining as Tusculum led 48-46. The Eagles would commit five turnovers and would get up only one field goal attempt in a six-minute span as the Pioneers opened up a seven-point lead at 54-47 following a Gibson basket with 3:42 on the clock.
The Eagles scored six straight including four points from Davis and Bryant Thomas basket with 1:41 on the scoreboard as C-N trailed 54-43.
Brandon Mitchell made one of his two free throws with 1:26 to go in regulation, but rebounded his miss and was fouled again. He would miss the first but make the second as Tusculum led 56-53 with 1:22 to go.
Bush cut the deficit back to one at 56-55 with 1:01 left. After a Tusculum time out, Gibson drove the lane and was fouled with 40 seconds left. Gibson made the first free throw but missed the second as the Eagles had the chance to tie or take the lead.
Davis, who hit the game-winning layup against Tusculum last Thursday with six seconds remaining, went for the same play and drew a blocking foul against TU's Brown with 14.3 seconds left. Davis calmly made both free throws to tie the game for the first time since the contest started.
Gibson got off a shot for the Pioneers, but it was blocked by Thomas to send the game into overtime. For Tusculum, it marked the second time in three NCAA postseason contests that Pioneers would need overtime. TU lost to top-seeded Bowie State in the 2005 South Atlantic Region quarterfinal.
C-N's Luke Brenegan drew first blood with his layup, but Justin Mitchell later came up with a steal and a fast-break layup to tie the game at 59-59. After a C-N miss, West calmly buried a 15-foot jumper to seize the lead for the Pioneers with 3:05 on the clock.
Brenegan tied the game with his two free throws, but Gibson would answer with two of his own with 1:59 remaining and a 63-61 lead.
Both teams would come up empty on their next possession but Davis would knot the game at 63-63 with 1:13 to go with his fast-break basket.
West would draw a foul with 46.4 seconds remaining and would go 1-of-2 at the line as Tusculum led 64-63. Tyler Bowens jumper was no good as the Pioneers came up with the rebound and Gibson would be fouled with 16 seconds remaining. Gibson missed the first, but made the second as Tusculum held onto a 65-63 advantage.
After timeouts by both teams, Carson-Newman set up for the play, but the Eagles never got a shot off as Justin Mitchell came up with the steal to end the game and send the Pioneers onto the region semifinals.
Tusculum finished the game shooting 42.6 percent from the floor, but went 1-of-12 from three-point territory (8.3%). Carson-Newman went 24-of-58 for 41.4 percent while going 2-of-13 from beyond the arc.
The Pioneers went 18-of-33 at the free throw line for 55 percent, while Carson-Newman went 13-of-18 at the line for 72.2 percent. C-N held a 41-33 advantage on the boards, including a game-high 12 rebounds from Thomas.
Tusculum is making its third NCAA postseason appearance and first since 2009.
