Antoine Davis hit a tiebreaking three-pointer with 4:06 left and added a key putback in the final minute as 16th-ranked Carson-Newman University survived a challenge from Tusculum College as the Eagles claimed a 77-70 victory in a South Atlantic Conference men's basketball game on Wednesday night at Holt Fieldhouse.

Davis finished with a game-high 21 points for the Eagles (3-0, 1-0 SAC) as all five starters reached double figures in the victory. Carson Brooks added 15 points and Jared Johnson had 11 points and nine assists for Carson-Newman, which shot just 39 percent from the field in the second half but went 13-for-17 as a team at the foul line.

Addison Flynn matched his season high with five three-pointers and scored 20 points to lead the Pioneers (1-4, 0-1 SAC), who shot 10-for-19 from three-point range as a team but were outrebounded 33-24 by the Eagles. Tusculum put four players in double figures, with Neal Spinks contributing 14 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots, Darius Carter coming up with 12 points, five assists and three steals and Jalen Walker tallying 11 points before fouling out in the closing seconds.

The game featured 14 lead changes, with the Pioneers erasing a seven-point second half deficit to take their final lead of the night at 63-62 on two free throws from Matt Shown with 5:23 left. Two foul shots from Davis gave the Eagles a 64-63 lead on the ensuing possession, and Carter tied the game at 64-64 on a free throw with 4:31 left.

However, Davis drilled a three-pointer to give the Eagles the lead for good with just over four minutes left, and Ishmael Sanders hit a three with 2:49 left to extend the Carson-Newman advantage to 70-64. Flynn answered with a three-pointer to halve the deficit with 2:24 left, and two more free throws from Shown made it a 70-69 Eagles lead with 1:42 on the clock.

Two foul shots from Sanders and one from Spinks left the Eagles ahead 72-70 with 59 seconds to go, but Davis came through with the play of the game as he put back a Sanders miss to give Carson-Newman a 74-70 lead with just over 40 seconds left. Tusculum would not score again while Johnson added two free throws and Brooks one in the final 20 seconds to set the final score.

The teams swapped the lead for the first eight minutes before Tusculum mounted a 9-0 run to take a 25-17 lead on a three-pointer from Flynn with 9:19 to play in the first half. Carson-Newman responded with an 8-0 run of its own over the next 2 1/2 minutes to tie the game at 25-25 following a Ray Likely three-pointer. The Eagles went on to build a five-point lead before Walker closed the scoring with a layup just before the half ended, sending the Pioneers to intermission with a 38-35 deficit.

Brooks shot 4-for-4 from the field and scored 10 points in the first half for the Eagles, while Flynn and Spinks led the way for Tusculum with nine points each. Carson-Newman shot 55.2 percent (16-for-29) from the field in the first half while the Pioneers were 14-for-29, including 6-for-11 from beyond the arc.

Carson-Newman took a 45-38 lead on a free throw from Johnson with 18:04 remaining, but the Pioneers came back to take a 46-45 lead following two foul shots by Carter with 15:21 left. The Eagles' lead fluctuated between one and five points over the next nine minutes before the Pioneers were able to regain the advantage briefly at the 5 1/2 minute mark.

Overall, Tusculum shot 46.8 percent (22-for-47) from the field in the game, while Carson-Newman was slightly better at 47.7 percent (27-for-57). Both teams committed 13 turnovers and posted nearly identical totals at the foul line at 16-for-21 for the Pioneers and 14-for-18 for the Eagles. The difference came in second-chance points, where Carson-Newman had 15 and Tusculum just four.

The Pioneers will return to the friendly confines of Pioneer Arena for their home opener on Saturday at 4 p.m. against Wingate.