Newberry College erased a seven-point first-half deficit and went on to an 82-63 victory over Tusculum College in South Atlantic Conference men's basketball action at Eleazer Arena Saturday night.

Demarkus Smith went 4-for-4 from three-point range and scored a game-high 19 points to lead the Wolves (8-8, 4-4 SAC), who turned 21 turnovers from the Pioneers into 23 points.

Keith Jumper paced the Pioneers (4-12, 2-6 SAC) with 16 points and seven rebounds and Darius Carter matched his season high with 14 points, but Tusculum shot 36.7 percent (18-for-49) from the field as a team and misfired on 13 of its 14 three-point attempts.

Both teams struggled from the free-throw line, combining to miss 36 of 82 attempts. Tusculum was 26-for-45 at the stripe, including 14-for-27 in the second half, while Newberry shot 20-for-37 and made just half of its 22 second-half tries.

Smith was 4-for-5 overall from the field and 7-for-8 from the foul line in 22 minutes of action. He was joined in double figures by Brunes Charles (13 points) and Dondray Walker (10 points) off the bench along with fellow starter Brandon Riley, who had a team-high seven rebounds to go along with 11 points.

Addison Flynn also reached double figures for the Pioneers, scoring 13 points and grabbing four rebounds in 38 minutes of playing time. JD Miller shared the team lead in rebounding with Jumper with seven rebounds and added five points and two steals.

Off the bench, Rory McClure turned in a strong performance with a game-high seven steals and a pair of rebounds in 23 minutes of action. McClure had five of his steals in the second half and did not commit a turnover. The seven thefts are the third-most in school history, one off the single-game record eight steals posted by Tom Massolio in 1991 vs. Tomlinson and Sean Wilcox vs. Tennessee Wesleyan in 1993.

Carter scored five straight points to help the Pioneers to a 15-8 lead after five minutes of action, and Tusculum held an 18-12 lead with 12:25 left in the first half. Newberry then rattled off eight straight points to take a 20-18 lead on a jumper by Walker with 10:26 left in the half.

A three-pointer by Flynn tied the game at 28-28 with 6:05 remaining, but Newberry outscored Tusculum 15-7 to take a 43-35 lead into halftime, with the final three points coming on a shot just before the buzzer by the Wolves' Smith.

Smith led all players with 11 points in the first half, while Flynn and Jumper had a team-high nine points for the Pioneers. Tusculum shot 11-for-27 (40.7 percent) from the field in the half while Newberry was 15-for-34 (44.1 percent) overall and 4-for-16 from three-point range.

After the Wolves took an 11-point lead on a Smith three-pointer to open the second half, the Pioneers pulled within 46-39 on a layup by Jumper with 17:33 to go. From there, Newberry methodically increased its lead to double digits, reaching a 20-point advantage at 73-53 following a three-pointer by Aegir Steinarsson with 6:05 left.

The Wolves finished the game outrebounding the Pioneers by a slim 39-38 margin, including six from Smith and five from Charles. Nick Spinks added five rebounds for the Pioneers to go along with eight points in 38 minutes of playing time.

Tusculum will be back on the road Wednesday night at 12th-ranked Lincoln Memorial beginning at 8 p.m. from Tex Turner Arena. The SAC co-leading Railsplitters defeated the Pioneers 83-70 in the league opener on Nov. 28 at Pioneer Arena.