GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Nas Tyson hit the game-winning three-pointer with 2.8 seconds remaining as the Lenoir-Rhyne men's basketball team upset Tusculum University 65-62 Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Arena.
The Bears (6-14, 5-12 SAC) post their second road win of the week while avenging last month's 69-49 home loss to the Pioneers (12-6, 12-4 SAC). TU had won seven of its last eight games but with the loss, the Pioneers drop to sole possession of third-place in the conference.
Lenoir-Rhyne used a late 8-0 run as Tusculum went scoreless for almost a six-minute span. The Pioneers went 0-for-4 from the field, came up empty on a pair of free throw tries and committed a pair of turnovers.
The Bears tied the game at 56-56 after Kevin Kangu made the second of two free throws. Sallie Wilson give L-R its first lead (58-56) of the second half with his layup with 2:01 on the clock.
Justin Mitchell tied the game on TU's ensuing possession with his tip-in with 1:46 on the scoreboard for a 58-58 score. The Bears regained the advantage on Wilson's jumper for a 60-58 L-R lead with 1:16 left.
After a timeout, Tusculum got the ball to Inady Legiste, who drove under the basket and banked in the tying bucket with 1:03 on the clock.
Tied 60-60, L-R's Jalen Johnson's layup was blocked out of bounds by Legiste with 36.1 seconds remaining. The Bears inbounded the ball to Nesmith as he missed his jumper, but Tyson came through with the go-ahead tip-in with 30.1 seconds left as L-R reclaimed the lead at 62-60.
Tusculum worked the offense and Gibson drove to the lane but was fouled with 11.1 seconds left. Gibson would make both free throws to knot the game at 62-62 for the game's ninth tie.
Tusculum applied the press as the Pioneers almost came up with the steal in the back court. But the Bears recovered as Johnson dribbled into the front court and found Tyson open on the right wing as he buried the game-winner and a 65-62 advantage with 2.8 seconds left. It would be the Bears largest lead of the afternoon.
The Pioneers got the ball across midcourt, but Gibson's game-tying three-point try hit off the rim as the Bears secured the victory.
Nesmith led the Bears with 17 points and seven rebounds off the bench, while Johnson and Wilson had 13 and 10 points, respectively. Tyson added nine markers and a team-high five assists.
Justin Mitchell led all scorers with a career-high 21 points as he shot 9-of-15 from the floor including 3-of-4 from three-point territory. He also contributed five rebounds and two steals. Brandon Mitchell finished with 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds, while William Vedder tallied nine markers in the loss.
Gibson, the reigning SAC Player of the Year, was held without a field goal for the first time in his 97-game career at Tusculum, while being held to a career-lower three points as he went 3-of-4 from the line but missed all nine of his shots from the field.
Tusculum led throughout most of the afternoon and took its largest lead of the day at 43-34 with 16 minutes left in the game following back-to-back dunks by Justin Mitchell and Brandon Mitchell.
The Pioneers shot 25-of-62 from the floor for 40.3 percent while Lenoir-Rhyne went 25-of-64 (39.1%) from the field and 10-of-13 at the free throw line (76.9%). TU finished the game going 6-of-10 from the stripe including 3-of-6 in the second half.
The two teams were dead-even on the boards with 39 rebounds each. Tusculum committed nine turnovers while the Bears finished with just seven miscues including just two in the final 20 minutes.
Gibson missed his first free throw try of the game which snapped a streak of 24 straight made free throws at Pioneer Arena, dating back to early December.
Brandon Mitchell's nine boards gives him 740 for his career and moving him into a tie for third place in the TU record book with former All-SAC forward Tim McPhail (1996-2000).
Gibson also climbs to within 14 points of reaching the 1,500-point plateau for his career which would move him into 10th place on the Tusculum scoring charts. His seven assists on Saturday moves him to 414 helpers for his career which are the third-most ever by a Pioneer.
Tusculum be on the road for four of its next five games including Wednesday's road trip to arch-rival Carson-Newman (14-7, 11-6 SAC). The Pioneers defeated the Eagles 73-69 in November's SAC opener at Pioneer Arena.
