GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Inady Legiste scored a team-high 20 points, while Jalen Crowder poured in six 3-pointers for his 18 points in Tusculum's 85-72 win over visiting Tennessee Wesleyan in exhibition action at Pioneer Arena.

The Pioneers connected on its first nine shots and led by double-digits throughout the game before a crowd of 1,794 fans during TU's "Education Game". Area elementary and middle schools were invited guests of the University to attend Monday's exhibition contest.

Legiste went 8-of-13 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the free throw line while hauling in five rebounds. Crowder went 6-of-10 from downtown, while KJ Crump added a dozen points and James West IV finished with 10 markers.

Tennessee Wesleyan's Ty Patterson led all scorers with his 21 points, while the duo of Elish Mayberry and Kobe Pride scored 12 points apiece.

Tusculum scored the first seven points of the game and raced out to a 24-7 advantage with13:56 left in the half as TU went 9-of-9 from the floor including five of its 13 three-pointers on the day.

The Pioneers would push their lead out to as many as 18 points in the opening period before settling for a 45-29 advantage at halftime.

Tusculum took its largest lead of the game as TU capped a 9-2 run with a West triple as the Pioneers led 58-36 with 15:35 left in the contest.

With the Bulldogs trailing 61-43 with 12:51 to go Patterson scored eight straight including back-to-back threes to spark a 15-3 run to cut the deficit to 61-51 at the 10:49 mark.

Tusculum could not distance themselves from TWU, but neither could the Bulldogs get to within single digits as the Pioneers recorded the exhibition victory.

TU finished the game shooting 33-of-67 from the floor (49%) including 13-of-35 from three-point land. The Bulldogs shot 46 percent including 17-of-31 in the second half (55%).  Tennessee Wesleyan held a 35-33 advantage in rebounding, while Tusculum forced 16 turnovers on 13 steals resulting into 20 points.

The Pioneers will open their regular season this weekend when they host the South Atlantic Conference / Peach Belt Conference Challenge. Tusculum will host USC Aiken 7 p.m. on Friday. That game will be preceded by the Lincoln Memorial vs Clayton State game at 5 p.m.