GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Kobe Funderburk recorded a career-high 21 points to lead five Tusculum players in double figures in an 85-78 win over Lenoir-Rhyne Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Arena in South Atlantic Conference men's basketball action.
Tusculum (11-10) connected on a season-high 16 three-pointers while snapping a three-game losing streak. With the victory, the Pioneers moved back into sole possession of second place in the SAC Mountain Division standings.
LR's TJ Nesmith led all scorers with a season-high 31 points, one-point shy of his career-high 32 posted last year against Catawba. On Saturday, he went 14-of-22 from the floor including 9-of-11 in the final period as he scored 21 second half points.
Funderburk went 7-of-11 from the field including 5-of-9 from three-pointer territory.
Connor Jordan went 4-of-5 from downtown as he finished with 19 markers, while James West IV accounted for a dozen points and five assists. Justin Mitchell added 11 points and a career-best six assists. Inady Legiste tallied 10 points and 11 rebounds for his 13th double-double of the season. Legiste also matched a career-high with four blocked shots.
The first half was a back-and-forth contest which saw 14 lead changes and five ties. LR enjoyed its largest lead of the game early when they were up 14-10 at the 12:09 mark. TU led by three on two occasions including 33-30 in the final three minutes of the period before taking a 36-34 lead at the intermission.
Tusculum opened the second half with a 14-5 run in the first 3:43 where Funderburk contributed seven points as the Pioneers led 50-39 with 16:17 remaining.
The Bears answered with an 11-3 run to trail 53-50 with 11:29 on the clock following a Salle Wilson three-point play.
TU followed with a 12-3 run which was highlighted by back-to-back triples from Jordan and a jumper from freshman Kyle Brown as the Pioneers took their largest lead of the game at 65-53 with 7:40 on the scoreboard.
Lenoir-Rhyne mounted a 14-4 surge in a 3:52 span to cut the deficit to 71-69 with 3:05 on the clock after a Nesmith three-point play.
Legiste connected with a three-pointer while Nesmith slammed home a thunderous dunk on an alley-oop pass from Damion Medwinter to make it a 74-71 score with 2:29 left.
The Pioneers would make its final four shots from the floor down the stretch including two 3-pointers by West and another triple by Legiste as TU led 82-73 with 1:00 left.
The Pioneers missed three of its next four free throws to leave the door open for a possible LR rally. Hamilton hit a long three-pointer and Jalen Johnson went coast-to-coast on a layup to trim the deficit to five (83-78) with 14.9 seconds remaining. But two free throws by Jordan sealed the victory.
Tusculum ended the game shooting 51.7 percent including 18-of-30 in the second half (60%). The Pioneers connected on eight 3-pointers in each half and ended the game going 16-of-33 from the beyond the arch (48.5%).
The Pioneers committed a season-low five turnovers in the game. The last time TU had just five turnovers was Jan. 22, 2014 against Carson-Newman.
LR dominated the paint, outscoring TU by a 36-14 margin, while the Pioneer bench outscored the visitors 23-15.
Tusculum will host arch-rival Carson-Newman on Wednesday at Pioneer Arena for a 7:30 p.m. contest. TU defeated the Eagles 72-59 last month in Jefferson City.
