GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Emory & Henry College men's basketball team used a 16-5 run in the second half as the Wasps rallied to a 78-75 win over host Tusculum University Wednesday night at Pioneer Arena in the 100th recorded meeting between the two schools.
With the victory, E&H (7-3, 1-2 SAC) records their first South Atlantic Conference win in program history while halting the Pioneers (5-2, 2-2 SAC) seven-game, regular-season home winning streak.
Emory & Henry outscored the Pioneers 41-28 and limited TU to just four points in the final five minutes as the Wasps were victorious in their first true road game of the season. Tusculum missed six of its final seven shots of the game while committing a pair of costly turnovers in the final 96 seconds.
Tusculum's Inady Legiste recorded his NCAA-leading sixth double-double as he finished with 18 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. His six consecutive double-doubles are also a new school record.
Jake Moynihan poured in a team-high 15 points off the bench for E&H as he went 6-of-8 from the floor with three 3-pointers including his go-ahead triple with 6:52 remaining to give the visitors a 70-67 lead and cap the 16-5 run.
Legiste followed with a layup, but Christian Drummer answered with a bucket of his own as the Wasps led 72-69 with 5:54 remaining.
The Pioneers regained the advantage with back-to-back buckets by Legiste and Justin Mitchell as TU led 73-72 with 4:46 on the clock.
On the next possession, Moynihan gobbled up an offensive rebound and connected on the put-back to give the lead back to the Wasps, 74-73 at the 4:31 mark.
The Pioneers would miss five straight shots over the next four minutes. E&H was just as cold as the Wasps would miss six in a row over the final 3:49.
Patrick Antonelli made both ends of the one-and-bonus with 3:27 to go as Emory & Henry led 76-73.
The scoring drought would go until 14.4 seconds left as Legiste converted a layup to trim the deficit to a single-point (76-75). After a TU timeout, the Wasps got the ball to Antonelli as he was fouled with 9.9 seconds on the clock. He made both ends of the one-and-one to push the lead back to three at 78-75.
KJ Crump would get off a contested three-point try from the right wing, but it was off target as E&H came up with the rebound and record the win in the first meeting in 42 years between to the two long-time rivals.
Antonelli, Malcolm Morgan and Jalen Leftwich each finished with a dozen points for Emory & Henry, while Gabe Brown and Cade Looney tallied nine and eight points, respectively.
Mitchell contributed 17 points off the bench as he went 7-of-10 from the floor with a pair of 3-pointers. Jalen Crowder and Connor Jordan had 13 points apiece, while Crump finished with six points and four assists in the losing effort.
E&H finished the game with 18 offensive rebounds resulting in 25 second chance points including 15 in the final 20 minutes. TU would edge the Wasps on the boards by a 39-36 margin.
Both teams finished the game with 32 made field goals and seven 3-pointers made apiece. E&H went 7-of-11 at the foul line including a perfect 5-of-5 by Antonelli. TU finished the game going 4-of-6 from the foul line.
Tusculum finished the game shooting 49.2 percent from the floor, but shot 27 percent from three-point land including 1-of-13 in the second half. E&H shot 45 percent and forced 12 Tusculum turnovers on 10 steals including three by Leftwich.
The game included four ties and 12 lead changes. Tusculum used a 13-4 run in the second half to take its largest lead of the game at 40-29 before settling for a 47-37 lead at halftime.
The Pioneers will play its next six games away from Greeneville beginning with this weekend's trip to Daytona Beach, Florida and the Embry-Riddle Holiday Classic. TU will face Davis & Elkins on Friday before taking on host Embry-Riddle Saturday.
