Breaira Barksdale scored the final seven points of the game for Tusculum College, and the Pioneers survived a last-second shot attempt by Brevard College to come away with a 61-60 victory Saturday afternoon in a South Atlantic Conference game at Pioneer Arena.

Barksdale finished with 12 points, including a three-pointer with 1:36 left that gave the Pioneers (11-7, 5-5 SAC) a 59-52 lead. However, the Tornados (4-14, 2-8 SAC) scored eight of the game's final 10 points and had a chance to pick up their first-ever win against the Pioneers in 11 meetings, but missed a three-pointer with two seconds left and Tusculum grabbed the rebound as time expired.

Ashley Thurman posted a double-double for the Pioneers with 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Jama Hammontree had career highs of 11 rebounds and three blocked shots as Tusculum finished with a 47-33 advantage on the boards over Brevard.

Tuccoa Brackett led all players with 20 points for the Tornados, while Michaela Watkins had 18 points, five rebounds and five assists and Shelby Wolfe added 11 points and six boards.

Tusculum led 50-35 with 8:45 left, but the Tornados went on a 12-1 run to pull within 51-47 on a layup by Watkins with 4:34 to go. A layup by Barksdale with 3:04 remaining pushed the Pioneer lead to 56-49, but three-pointers by Watkins and Brackett brought the Tornados within 59-55 with 1:16 to go.

Watkins came up with a steal and was fouled on a breakaway layup with 46.3 seconds to go, and finished the three-point play to cut the Tusculum lead to 59-58. Barksdale responded with a layup with 27.1 seconds remaining to give the Pioneers a 61-58 lead, but Shelby Wolfe hit a baseline jumper with 15.2 seconds on the clock to make it a one-point game again.

Barksdale was fouled with 12.5 seconds left but missed the front end of the one-and-one, with Brackett grabbing the rebound. After a timeout with 6.8 seconds to go, the Tornados set up for a final shot. However, pressure from the Pioneer defense forced Hiatt to take a long three-pointer as the clock ran down and Tusculum's Nequoiah Anderson came up with the rebound as time ran out.

The first half was a back-and-forth battle until the 7:00 mark of the half, when the Pioneers set out on a 16-0 run that turned a 22-20 deficit into a 36-22 lead. Barksdale and Kendal Baxter each hit three-pointers during the run, which spanned six minutes and saw the Tornados go 0-for-9 from the field with seven turnovers.

The Pioneers led 36-24 at halftime as Thurman led the way with eight points and eight rebounds. Brackett led all players with 12 points in the first half, but the Tornados shot 36.7 percent (11-for-30) while the Pioneers were 15-for-34 (44.1 percent) in the half.

Brevard briefly cut the deficit to single digits at 38-29 following a three-pointer by Tempestt Mack with 19:07 left, but the Pioneers built their lead to 15 points at 46-31 on a free throw by April McCann with 10:59 left. Tusculum would lead twice more by 15 before Brevard mounted its late comeback attempt.

McCann finished the game with nine points, eight rebounds and three steals for the Pioneers while Baxter added five points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals. Anderson added four points off the bench and Kristen McMillion contributed three points and six rebounds in 20 minutes of playing time.

Both teams struggled from the foul line, with Brevard finishing the game 4-for-11 and Tusculum 7-for-17. The Pioneers went 6-for-17 from three-point range and 24-for-56 overall (42.9 percent), while the Tornados were 4-for-18 from beyond the arc and 26-for-64 overall (40.6 percent).

The Pioneers will be back in action Wednesday night when they travel to Carson-Newman for a matchup against their local rivals. The Pioneers defeated the EAgles 55-51 in a hard-fought contest in Greeneville on Jan. 9.