GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tusculum's Connor Jordan poured in 22 points and the Pioneers used a 12-2 run in the final three minutes to secure an 83-77 win over visiting Lander Friday night at Pioneer Arena in the men's basketball season-opener for both teams.
TU's Josiah Morris added 18 markers as he went 7-of-11 from the floor including four 3-pointers in his Pioneer debut. Redshirt freshman Bryce Jackson had a solid Tusculum debut as well as he posted 13 points off the bench, going 4-of-5 from the field and hit four free throws during the 12-2 run.
Lander's Jacob Cooper scored 16 second half points to finish with a team-high 20 points to go along with his nine assists and five rebounds. Former Pioneer Inady Legiste contributed 15 points in his first game with the Bearcats as he shot 6-of-10 from the field and tallied four rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. LU's Ajang Aguek posted 11 markers off the bench to go along with his four rebounds.
Tusculum's Jacob Hobbs added nine points on his three 3-pointers, while Ray'Quan Taylor recorded seven points, five rebounds and two blocked shots in his first game in a Pioneer uniform.
TU (1-0) finished the game with a dozen three-pointers and shot 8-of-15 from downtown in the first half alone as the Pioneers led 47-42 at halftime.
Tusculum extended the lead to 53-45 with 18:36 left in the game following a triple by Morris. The Bearcats responded with a 9-1 spurt to tie the game at 54-54 as Legiste hit back-to-back buckets, Dominic Stanford buried a trey and Cooper knotted the contest with his layup at the 14:51 mark of the period.
Tusculum regained the advantage thanks to a triple by Jackson and Akeem Odusipe made one of two free throws for a 58-54 Pioneer lead with 13:37 left. Cooper responded with consecutive buckets to tie the game at 58-58 with 11:17 to go.
With the score knotted at 62-62 with 9:21 on the clock, the Pioneers would take the lead for good with back-to-back baskets from Jackson and go up 66-62 with 7:54 remaining. Legiste hit consecutive layups and Odusipe converted a bucket as the TU lead shrunk to two (68-66). Hobbs hit a three-pointer to push the lead out to 71-66, but Legiste hit his third straight field goal. After a pair of failed trips up the floor, Cooper cut the TU lead down to one (71-70) with 4:04 left.
Jackson began the Tusculum run with a lay-up and Jordan followed with a 16-foot jumper following a steal by Hobbs to lead 75-70 with 2:28. Stanford converted a driving layup with 2:08 as the Bearcats call timeout, trailing 75-72. The teams exchanged turnovers on their ensuing possessions but Odusipe put home a slam dunk to extend the lead to five again (77-72 with 1:07 left.
Lander came up empty again and the Bearcats would be forced to foul as the Pioneers made six straight free throws in the final 44 seconds to secure the season-opening victory.
Lander (0-1) went 30-of-67 from the field for 44.8 percent and recorded 20 assists on its 30 field goals made. TU shot 44.6 percent (29-of-65) and went 13-of-17 from the free throw line. Tusculum ended with 13 assists against 10 turnovers while defensively the Pioneers posted seven blocked shots and seven steals.
The Bearcats are coming off a 20-win season, a runner-up finish at the Peach Belt Conference Tournament and a trip to the NCAA Division II Tournament.
Tusculum will face its second Peach Belt foe to open the year as the Pioneers travel to USC Aiken on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. contest.
