GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Carson-Newman's Tray Okoth poured in 25 points to lead the seventh-seeded Eagles to a 76-69 upset over No. 2 seed Tusculum College Wednesday night in a quarterfinal contest of the 2010 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament.
Carson-Newman (11-17) advances to Saturday's 2:30 p.m. semifinal against No. 3 seed Brevard College at the Catawba Valley Community College Arena in Hickory, N.C.
Okoth led four C-N players in double-figures as Cameron Sharp finished with 18 points and seven assists, while Jordan Dixon and Darron Maxtion tallied 15 and 14 points, respectively.
Tusculum senior Kyle Moore scored 21 points, including five 3-pointers in his final game at Pioneer Arena. Senior Josh Bennett added a season-best18 points, as he went 6-of-8 from the floor and 6-of-6 from the free throw line off the bench. Bennett also pulled down eight rebounds, while sophomore Justin Steigerward made a charge at triple-double with six points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in the loss for the Pioneers (16-12).
The Eagles shot 51.1 percent from the floor, including a blistering 15-of-24 in the opening period to take a 38-30 halftime lead.
Midway through the first half, Tusculum put together a 7-0 run to take a 25-20 lead with 7:32 remaining in the half following a three-pointer by Moore. C-N answered with eight straight points, including a dunk by Brandon Evans and lay-ups by Sharp and Okoth to retake the lead at 28-25 at the 4:35 mark. The Eagles would close out the period with a 10-2 run to carry an eight-point into the locker room.
Tusculum shot well from the floor in the first 20 minutes shooting 55 percent, including 5-of-9 from beyond the arc. But the Eagles forced nine turnovers, converting those miscues into 15 points.
In the second half, Carson-Newman would take their largest lead of the evening at 60-45, thanks to a 10-4 run with was capped off by an Okoth jumper.
Tusculum would make a final run as the Pioneers used a 9-0 spurt that included a pair of buckets by senior Wes Taylor and a trey by Moore. Senior Jimmy Boone capped the run with his 15-foot jumper with 1:26 left to trim the deficit to 62-58. The Pioneers were forced to foul as C-N made 14 of its last 16 free throws, including 8-of-10 by Sharp in the final 85 seconds of the contest.
TC junior Rob Troutman buried a three-pointer with 24.2 seconds left to cut the C-N lead to 72-67, but that would be as the Pioneers would get as the Eagles made their final four free throws to seal the upset.
Carson-Newman shot 25-of-31 from the foul line, including 21-of-26 in the second half, while the Eagles converted 19 points off of 16 Tusculum miscues.
Moore eclipsed the 1,800-point plateau on Wednesday as he recorded his 19th game with 20 more points this season. His 1,813 points in a Pioneer uniform are the fourth most in school history and seventh in conference history. His 117 three-point field goals this season are a new school and league record and his 306 career treys at Tusculum are the most-ever by a South Atlantic Conference player and second most in school history.
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