GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Michael Tankersley hit a layup at the buzzer to lead visiting Georgia Southwestern to a thrilling 66-65 win over Tusculum Saturday afternoon in a non-conference men's basketball game at Pioneer Arena.

The Hurricanes (4-2) have won four of their last five contests, including back-to-back wins against the Pioneers (1-7). GSW hosted Tusculum 11 days ago in Americus and followed with the one-point win this afternoon. TC suffers its six straight loss and fourth in a row at home.

GSW's Matt Shaw recorded team highs with 16 points, six rebounds and four assists. Derrick Dawkins added a dozen points on 4-of-6 shooting, including 3-of-3 behind the three-point line, while Alan Arnett and Tankersley contributed 10 points apiece.

Tusculum freshman Keith Jumper led the Pioneers with a season-high 22 points, including 19 in the second half in his first career start. Jumper shot 8-of-11 from the field, 6-of-7 from the free throw line and dished out four assists.

Daniel O'Conner added 12 points, five rebounds and two assists off the bench, while Devin Call and Nick Spinks posted eight markers each.

Georgia Southwestern led for the entire first half and got an Arnett three-pointer with three seconds left in the period to take a 28-23 lead at the intermission.

Jumper scored the first five points of the second half, including a three-point play to even the contest at 28-28.

GSW responded with an 8-2 run including a Shaw three-point play, a triple by Dawkins and a Tankersley dunk as the Canes led 36-30 with 16:21 remaining.

Tusculum answered with an 8-1 spurt thanks to a three-pointer and a three-point play by Call and jumper by O'Conner as the Pioneers took its first lead of the game at 38-37 with 13:43 left on the clock.

GSW roared back with seven unanswered points, including Tankersley's three-point play, a pair of free throws from Arnett and a Shaw layup as the Canes led by six again at 44-38 with 12 minutes left.

TC followed with a 6-0 run on baskets by Addison Flynn, Neal Spinks and Jumper to tie the game for a second time at 44-44 with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game.

Neither team would enjoy a lead of more than three points for the rest of the afternoon. Tankersley converted another three-point with 7:04 left to give the visitors a 51-48 advantage.

Tusculum bolted out on a 6-1 run to take its largest lead of the game at 62-59 with 2:50 left in the contest thanks to back-to-back baskets by O'Conner and a Jumper layup.

The Hurricanes trimmed the deficit to one (62-61) following a pair of free throws by Shaw with 2:35 left. Neal Spinks made one of two free throws 28 seconds later to increase the TC lead to 63-61.

Arnett made one of the plays of the game as he hit a jumper in the paint and was fouled on the play with 1:36 left. He made the ensuing free throw to convert the three-point play and give the Canes a 64-63 lead.
TC got the ball to Jumper on the right baseline as he was fouled on the shot sending the true freshman to the line with 1:07 remaining. Jumper made both free throws to give the Pioneers a 65-64 lead.

Arnett missed his go-ahed jumper with 46 seconds left, which was rebounded by TC's Flynn. Tusculum worked the shot clock down to 10 seconds and called a timeout with 25.2 seconds left on the game clock. TC was unable to get off a good shot in the time remaining as O'Conner's three-pointer was blocked by Arnett and hauled in by GSW's Jamon Hawkins.

With the clock winding down Shaw drove down the right-side baseline and found Tankersley darting to the lane from the opposite side as hit the layup off the glass at the horn for the game-winning bucket.

After shooting just 33.3 percent in the first half, Tusculum went 17-of-28 (60.7%) in the final 20 minutes and finished the game at 47.3 percent. GSW was steady throughout the contest finishing at 53.5 percent, including 11-of-19 in the first half (57.9%).

Both teams also shot well at the charity stripe. GSW went 16-of-19 from the foul line for 84.2 percent, including 13-of-15 (86.7) in the second half alone. Tusculum went 12-of-15 for 80 percent, including 7-of-8 in the final period (87.5%).

The Canes edged Tusculum 27-26 on the boards, but the Pioneers led 11-7 on the offensive boards, including four offensive rebounds by O'Conner.

Tusculum forced 21 turnovers, converting the GSW miscues into 17 points, including 10 in the second half. TC outscored the visitors by a 38-32 margin in the paint and 27-21 in bench points, but the Canes recorded 13 second chance points, including 10 in the final stanza.

Tusculum returns to action in 25 days when the Pioneers close out the non-conference portion of its schedule when they travel to Lees-McRae on Jan. 2. GSW will open Peach Belt Conference play on Tuesday with a road game at Georgia College.

Tusculum's seven losses this year have come against teams with a combined 30-9 record.

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