GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum College men's basketball team shot 61.9 percent from the field, along with 10-of-17 from three-point territory, as the Pioneers defeated arch-rival Carson-Newman College 78-72 at Pioneer Arena in South Atlantic Conference action.
Tusculum (11-12, 8-5 SAC) completes the season-sweep over the Eagles (9-12, 6-7 SAC) as the Pioneers have won four of their last six contests.
Senior Rob Troutman led the Pioneers with 22 points, shooting 7-of-9 from the floor and 6-of-8 from three-point land. Junior Kevin Vest added 18 markers as he shot 5-of-7 from the field with three 3-pointers. Sophomore Dionte Grey finished with 10 markers and four assists, while junior Justin Steigerwald tallied six points and a season-high 10 assists.
Carson-Newman's Kevin Hare accounted for 18 points, including four 3-pointers, along with a game-high six rebounds. John Holleman tallied 16 markers off the bench, while Bradley Tumer accounted for 10 points and eight assists in the loss.
Both teams combined for 21 three-pointers on the night (C-N 11, TC 10) and both squads dished out 21 assists each.
The Pioneers finished the game shooting 26-of-42 from floor, including 15-of-23 in the second half (65.2%). C-N shot lights out as well, gunning 53.1 percent from the field, including 14-of-24 in the final period (58.3%).
In the first half, Tusculum connected on its first six shots to take a 15-8 advantage. TC would up that lead to 23-13 following a three-pointer by Troutman at the 10:10 mark. The Eagles would answer with a 10-2 spurt, including a steal and a slam dunk by Tumer and three-pointers by Ishmael Sanders and Kevin Hare to cut the deficit to 25-23 with six minutes remaining before halftime.
After TC's Tommy Klempin knocked down a pair of free throws, but the Eagles followed with eight unanswered points, including treys by Hare and Erwin Staten and two free throws from Brandon Evans as C-N would take a 33-31 lead into the locker room.
In the second half, C-N opened with 6-2 run to taked a 39-33 lead with 17:25 remaining in the contest. TC would go on an 8-0 run of its own as Troutman buried back-to-back 3-pointers and Steigerwald converted a driving layup to put the Pioneers back on top, 41-39 at the 15:38 mark.
The Pioneers would convert on seven straight shots in a span of 4:31, but the Eagles would went 3-of-4 during the same span as TC led 49-47 with 12:27 left in the game.
With Tusculum leading 54-49 following a jumper by Grey, C-N answered with six straight points, including four points by Hare and a bucket by Tumer as the Eagles led once again at 55-54 with 7:54 left.
But the spark of the game came down the stretch as Tusculum posted a 9-0 spurt in a 2:53 span, including a three-point play by Grey that was set-up by a diving steal from Steigerwald at mid-court as the Pioneers led 65-57 with three minutes remaining on the clock.
Carson-Newman got another three-pointer by Hare, but TC's Matt Darnell came off the bench and buried a critical three-pointer with 2:04 left to put the Pioneers ahead 68-60.
The Eagles made it interesting in the final minutes as Holleman scored the final 12 points of the game for the visitors, including a pair of three-pointers. But Tusculum proved why they lead the league in free throw shooting as the Pioneers shot 10-of-12 from the foul line in the final minute to seal the victory.
Tusculum shot 76.2 percent from the charity stripe, including 12-of-16 in the second half. C-N also shot well from line (81.8%), while also leading the battle of the boards by a 23-18 margin.
The Pioneers will host Wingate University on Saturday in a battle of two teams currently tied for second place in the league. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m. at Pioneer Arena.
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