MARS HILL, N.C. --- Danny Sanders scored the final seven points of the game for Mars Hill College, including the game-winning tip-in with 2.2 seconds remaining to propel the Lions to a 63-61 South Atlantic Conference victory over visiting Tusculum College Wednesday night at Stanford Arena.
The Lions (14-12, 9-6 SAC) halt Tusculum's four-game winning streak and the Pioneers' bid for a share of the SAC Championship. TC ends its regular season and will be in action next Wednesday in a quarterfinal match of the Food Lion SAC Tournament. Official bracket and seeding will be announced by the league office on Sunday.
With Tusculum leading 59-56 with 42 seconds left following a pair of free throws by TC senior Kyle Moore, Sanders was fouled by Justin Steigerwald in the act of shooting a three-pointer. Following the play, Steigerwald was whistled for a technical foul, putting Sanders at the line for what would be five straight free throw attempts with 32 seconds left. He made both free throws for the technical and all three on the foul to put the Lions up 61-59 with 32 seconds left.
The Pioneers tied the game at 61-61on its ensuing possession as Josh Bennett made a reverse lay-up with 21 seconds remaining.
The Lions worked for the last shot as Stoney Polite missed his 15-foot jumper, but Sanders jumped to the rim with the offensive tip-in with 2.2 seconds on the clock. With no timeouts left, Tusculum's Jimmy Boone got off a desperation shot just across half court, but it was off target.
Sanders led all scorers with 26 points, including 8-of-8 from the free throw line, while Dion Malachi added 11 markers in the victory.
Moore led Tusculum with 23 points, while Boone and Rob Troutman added 13 and 11 points, respectively. Moore finished with six 3-pointers, while going 5-of-5 from the foul line. Steigerwald added a career-best 10 assists in the victory.
In the first half, Tusculum got back-to-back three-pointers by Boone and Troutman to take a 15-9 lead at the 12:34 mark of the period. With TC leading 20-14 with 8:21 left before halftime, the Lions went on a 10-4 spurt to take their first lead of the game at 24-23 following a Sanders trey with 5:34 remaining before the intermission. He would add two more three-pointers down the stretch, including his 23-footer at the buzzer to give MHC a 32-29 at the break.
In the second half, Tusculum went on a 10-0 run to take its largest lead of the night at 47-40 with 10:12 left using a pair of three-pointers by Moore and four points from sophomore center Tommy Klempin, including lay-up to cap the run.
With TC leading 52-46 with 4:35 remaining, Mars Hill put together an 8-2 run to tie the contest for a seventh time at 54-54. Moore connected on a clutch three-pointer from the left corner to put Tusculum back in front at 57-54 with 2:04 remaining.
Both teams would miss shots in the final two minutes, but Sanders came up with a steal and Julian Mack converted on the turnover to bring MHC back within one at 57-56 with 50 seconds remaining.
Moore was fouled with 42 seconds remaining, where he canned both of his free throws to put TC back out by three (59-56) to set the stage for the final minute of the play.
It was a defensive struggle to the end as both teams were held under 40 percent shooting on the night. Tusculum shot 38 percent, while Mars Hill was limited to 35 percent, including 8-of-34 in the second half (23.5%). On the night, Tusculum fired 11-of-28 (39.3%) from three-point territory, while MHC fired only 21.1 percent from downtown, including 0-of-8 in the final 20 minutes. But the Lions scored 18 points off 11 TC turnovers, while shooting a blistering 17-of-19 from the foul line, including 15-of-16 in the second half (93.8%).
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