BANNER ELK, N.C. --- Lees-McRae's Ja'Quavian Florence posted 16 points and seven rebounds off the bench to lead the Bobcats to an 82-77 win over visiting Tusculum Monday night at the Williams PE Center in men's basketball action.

Lees-McRae (4-1) recorded its third consecutive win as the Bobcats forced 20 turnovers on 14 steals including a game-high four by Florence. LMU converted those miscues into 27 points.

The Pioneers (2-3), who trailed by 21 points (71-50) with less than five minutes remaining, made a furious charge down the stretch, utilizing a 27-9 run to trail 80-77 with 12 seconds to go following an offensive rebound and layup by TU's Jacob Hobbs.

LMC's Rodney Smith made two free throws with 10 seconds on the clock to provide the final margin of victory.

Tusculum senior Connor Jordan led all players with his 18 points as he went 5-of-10 from the floor with a pair of three-pointers. He also went 6-of-8 from the free throw line. The redshirt freshmen duo of TJ Printup and Bryce Jackson added 11 points off the bench, while junior KJ Crump added 10 markers and six rebounds for the Pioneers. Akeem Odusipe tallied six points and grabbed a season-high 13 rebounds, while also posting two blocked shots.

Former Pioneer Jalen Crowder tallied 15 points on his five 3-pointers, while LMC teammates Jaylin Stewart and Timon Jones contributed 13 and 11 points, respectively.

The Bobcats finished the game shooting 44.1 percent from the floor and tallied nine 3-pointers. LMC also went 21-for-31 at the free throw line (68%), while Tusculum fired at a 19-of-29 clip from the charity stripe (66%). TU won the rebound battle by a 42-37 margin including 16-11 on the offensive glass.

Tusculum also got eight points from senior Kobe Funderburk, junior Josiah Morris had five points and Hobbs and Travis Pourciau finished with four markers apiece.

The Pioneers will open South Atlantic Conference play this Saturday when they host Anderson for a 4 p.m. contest at Pioneer Arena.