BREVARD, N.C. --- Tusculum College erased an 11-point halftime deficit and held on for a 67-63 victory at Brevard College in a South Atlantic Conference men's basketball game Saturday afternoon in Boshamer Gymnasium.

Tommy Klempin scored 15 of his game-high 19 points in the second half and the Pioneers went 10-for-10 from the foul line in the final 30 seconds to improve to 10-12 overall and 7-5 in the SAC, tied for third place with Wingate. The Tornados dropped to 8-10 overall and 5-7 in the SAC with the setback.

Josh Roper led Brevard with 17 points, the final of which was his 1,000th career point with 17:04 remaining. Vincent Dombrowski added 14 points off the Tornado bench, including a pair of desperation three-pointers in the final nine seconds to cut a six-point deficit to two.

Overall, the Pioneers shot 28-for-35 (80 percent) from the free-throw line, including a 21-for-27 performance in the second half alone. Justin Steigerwald and Ryan Slusher each hit four free throws in the last 30 seconds and Sean Rowe added a pair to keep the Tornados two possessions behind.

Rob Troutman joined Klempin in double figures for the Pioneers with 15 points, Slusher scored all nine of his points in the second half and Steigerwald chipped in with seven points, six assists and three steals to help Tusculum snap a two-game losing streak and improve to 5-1 in SAC road games.

Brevard took its first lead of the afternoon at 11-8 on a three-pointer by Ryson Felder with 15:53 left in the first half, then closed the half with five straight points to go to intermission with a 34-23 advantage. Brevard shot 52 percent (13-for-25) from the field in the first half and netted 15 points off nine Tusculum turnovers.

Roper went 7-for-9 from the field and led all players with 15 points in the first half for the Tornados, while Troutman and Dionte Grey shared the lead with six points apiece for Tusculum.

Six straight points from Klempin to open the second half, including a three-point play, trimmed the Brevard lead to 34-29 after just two minutes. With 17:04 remaining, Roper hit two free throws to reach 1,000 career points and give the Tornados a 37-29 lead.

After an impromptu ceremony on the court halted play, the Pioneers came out determined to spoil the party. Tusculum reeled off nine straight points and took the lead at 38-37 on two free throws by Klempin with 15:28 to play.

The Pioneers maintained the advantage until Dombrowski ran off six straight points for the Tornados to give them a 52-49 lead with 5:56 left. A layup by Kevin Vest cut the deficit to one with 3:12 left, and Klempin gave Tusculum the lead at 53-52 when he put back his own miss with 2:16 to go.

A free throw by Brevard's Jermichael Tanner tied the game for the seventh and final time with 2:03 left, but Troutman connected on the game's biggest shot as he drilled a three-pointer with 1:31 remaining to push the Pioneers on top 56-53.

Leading 57-54 with under 40 seconds left, the Pioneers put the game away at the free-throw line by nailing all 10 of their attempts the rest of the way. Two free throws by Slusher at 30.6 and two more by Steigerwald at 23.8 extended the Tusculum lead to 61-54. A three-pointer by Tanner brought the Tornados back within 61-57 with 18.5 left, but Steigerwald calmly sank two free throws to boost the Pioneer advantage to 63-57 with 16.0 on the clock.

Dombrowski halved the lead on a fallaway three-pointer with 8.1 left, but defensive sub Rowe stepped to the foul line with 7.6 to go and drilled a pair as Tusculum went ahead 65-60. Dombrowski then banked in a three with 2.8 seconds to go to bring the Tornados within two, only to see Slusher drain a pair of foul shots with 1.5 seconds left to set the final score.

Tusculum shot 40 percent (18-for-45) from the field and went 3-for-12 from three-point range. Brevard slumped off to 39 percent shooting in the second half and finished the game at 46.5 percent (20-for-43), including 7-for-20 on three-pointers.

The Pioneers handled the basketball much more cleanly in the second half, committing just four turnovers compared to 11 by the Tornados, and finished with 13 overall. The Pioneers also had a 30-25 edge in the boards, led by six apiece from Klempin, Grey and Vest.

Tusculum returns home to face Carson-Newman Wednesday night at 8 p.m. in Pioneer Arena, featuring a special halftime performance by the Air Elite acrobatic slam-dunk team.

- TC -