GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Ronnie Baylark poured in 23 points and six rebounds as the Tusculum men's basketball team rallied from a 23-point deficit in defeating visiting King University 88-81 Saturday at Pioneer Arena in the final game of the 2016 South Atlantic Conference / Conference Carolinas Challenge.
The Pioneers remain undefeated on the young season as Tusculum overcame a double-digit deficit for a second straight day as Tusculum is off to its first 2-0 start to a campaign for the first time in 10 years.
It also marks the second straight time Tusculum has overcome a huge deficit against the Tornado (0-2). Last year, the Pioneers trailed by 21 points to then-seventh ranked King with a 99-94 victory at home on Dec. 12, 2015.
Baylark shot 9-of-17 from the floor with three 3-pointers to along with four assists in his 35 minutes on the floor. Zach Davis contributed 20 markers and a game-high nine rebounds. He shot 5-of-10 from the floor and 9-of-10 at the free throw line. Point guard Kendall Patterson contributed 19 points with three 3-pointers and added game-highs of eight assists and four steals.
King moved out to an 18-15 lead with 13:13 left before halftime. From there, the Tornado used a 29-9 run to open up a 47-24 advantage with 3:23 left before halftime. The Pioneers chipped away at the deficit including a three-pointer by Baylark as TC trailed 52-37 at the intermission.
The Tornado moved the lead back out to 17 points at 59-42 thanks to back-to-back layups from Derick Pope with 18:03 left in the regulation.
TC went on a 9-0 run as Fagan canned two three-pointers and cut the deficit to single digits at 59-51 with 16:05 left.
With King up 64-63, the Pioneers went on a 12-2 spark including a Baylark layup as TC took its first lead of game at 2-0 in the opening moments of the contest.
The score would exchange hands two more times down the stretch with three ties, the last coming at 73-73 with 5:25 to go.
With TC leading by one with 3:08 to go, Baylark buried a three-pointer for an 80-76 Tusculum lead. The Tornado cut the deficit to two on a pair of occasions, including Je'Don Young trey with 1:30 remaining.
But Fagan answered with another clutch three-pointer with 1:11 left as the Pioneers moved on to win by seven (88-81).
The Tornado placed four players in double-figure scoring, led by CJ Good who posted 20 points, including five 3-pointers. Hunter LeVeau finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and four treys, while Mack Owens and Jordan Floyd scored 10 points each.
Tusculum shot 48 percent for the game including a sizzling 17-of-31 in the second half (55%). King finished game with a .435 shooting percentage and went 15-of-39 from long range including 12-of-21 in the first half alone.
Tusculum out-rebounded King by a 40-36 margin and improved on its free throw shooting as the Pioneers went 19-of-26 at the stripe (.731), a far cry from yesterday's game as TC went 24-of-42 for 57.1 percent.
Tusculum also enjoyed a solid assist to field goal ratio as the Pioneers had 20 team assists to go along with 29 field goal attempts.
Chase Mounce scored only two points, but added six rebounds, one assists and blocked three shots giving him 101 for his career. He becomes only the fourth Pioneers to eclipse the century mark on rejections.
The Pioneers will be on the road on Wednesday as they face their third Conference Carolinas opponent in Belmont Abbey College. Tip-off time is set for 7 p.m.
