MARS HILL, N.C. --- Chase Mounce scored a season-high 25 points, including the 1,000th of his career, and Darius Carter became Tusculum College's career leader in made free throws as part of a 24-point performance as the Pioneers clinched a berth in the South Atlantic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament with a 91-82 victory over host Mars Hill University Wednesday night at Stanford Arena.
The Pioneers (13-14, 8-13 SAC) have secured the eighth seed and will play top-seeded Lincoln Memorial University in the quarterfinals next Wednesday night. Tusculum has faced Lincoln Memorial in each of its last three SAC Tournament appearances, including quarterfinal matchups in 2012 and 2013.
Mounce's 25 points were one shy of his career high set against Pfeiffer on Nov. 29, 2014 and came on 9-of-14 shooting from the field and 7-for-8 from the foul line in 28 minutes of playing time. Mounce, who came into the game 19 points shy of becoming the 24th player in school history to score 1,000 points, tallied 10 points in the first half before reaching the milestone on a layup with 15:57 left that tied the score at 53-53.
Carter hit five free throws in the game, the last coming with 8:44 remaining to give him 448 career made foul shots and break the record of 447 set by Kyle Moore from 2007-10. Carter is also the program's career leader in free-throw attempts with 577, having broken the record of 549 held by Tim McPhail (1996-2000) earlier this month.
Tusculum, which has scored at least 85 points in each of its last seven games, shot 46.5 percent (33-for-71) from the field and 19-for-30 from the foul line in the victory. The Pioneers went 13-for-15 from the stripe in the second half and were 6-for-13 from three-point range in the second half after going 0-for-5 from beyond the arc and 6-for-15 at the line in the opening half.
Michael Carson led the Lions (9-18, 5-16 SAC) with 21 points while Patrick Monroe added 19 points and eight rebounds, but Mars Hill shot 39 percent (30-for-77) from the field and 9-for-15 at the foul line in the game. The Lions did connect on 13 three-pointers in 33 attempts, led by Carson who was 5-for-8 from long range.
Javon Price finished with 12 points and five rebounds for the Pioneers, including the clinching three-pointer in the final minute, while Kendall Patterson added 10 points in the victory. Cory Fagan came off the bench to finish with eight points, seven rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots in 22 minutes of playing time.
The Pioneers jumped to an early 6-0 lead on baskets by Carter, Patterson and Price, and led 16-6 following a dunk by Mounce with 4 1/2 minutes gone in the first half. The Lions chipped away and went ahead for the first time at 17-16 on a layup by Brandon McCarter with 11:53 remaining in the half. A Carson layup would give Mars Hill its only other lead of the half at 19-18, as Tusculum went to the locker room with a 42-38 lead behind 12 points from Carter and 10 by Mounce. Carson led the Lions with 15 points in the half while Justin Yeargin had 10 points and three assists.
Tusculum continued to lead early in the second half until Mars Hill regained the lead at 53-51 on a three-pointer by Jalen Witherspoon with 16:30 to play. However, the Pioneers responded with a 10-2 run to take a 61-55 lead on a three-pointer by Carter with 14:13 remaining. Tusculum's lead would grow to eight points at 70-62 on a jumper by Carter with 9:38 left, but the Lions came back to tie the game at 73-73 on a three-pointer by Witherspoon with 6:32 remaining.
A Carson three-pointer would tie the game for the final time at 78-78 with 5:23 left, but Fagan drilled a three on the Pioneers' next possession to give them the lead for good. Tusculum outscored Mars Hill 13-4 over the final five minutes, including a three-pointer from Price with 41 seconds left to give Tusculum an 89-82 advantage.
Witherspoon finished with 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting for the Lions, with Yeargin also hitting double figures with 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Yeargin and Witherspoon each hit three three-pointers in the game for Mars Hill, with Monroe adding a pair from long range in seven attempts.
Tusculum finished with a 36-18 advantage in points in the paint over Mars Hill, and had a 52-45 advantage in rebounding. Both teams were careful with the basketball, finishing with 10 turnovers apiece, while the Lion bench outscored the Pioneer reserves by a margin of 26-20.
The Pioneers finish their regular season on Saturday at 4 p.m. against Queens University of Charlotte at Pioneer Arena. The Royals have clinched the second seed in the SAC Tournament and are 17-4 in the conference, but will be coming off back-to-back losses to Lincoln Memorial and Lenoir-Rhyne. Saturday's game will be preceded by Senior Day festivities that will honor Carter, Price, Matt Shown, Johnathan Knight and Ben Arnold prior to their final home game at Pioneer Arena.
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