GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Survive and advance! The Tusculum University men's basketball team begins its postseason journey this week as the second-seeded Pioneers entertain No. 7 seed Catawba College in a quarterfinal game of the 2021 Pilot Flying J South Atlantic Conference Championship this Monday night. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. following the women's quarterfinal match-up between TU and Newberry at Pioneer Arena.
Tusculum (12-4) enters this year's tournament riding a six-game winning streak including last Wednesday's 78-67 win over Lenoir-Rhyne in the regular-season finale. They will face a Catawba team who is also red-hot as the Indians (9-10) have won five straight including Saturday's 90-67 dismantling of Limestone in the SAC opening round.
The Pioneers qualify for the quarterfinal round for a fourth consecutive season and third under the watch of head coach J.T. Burton, who has guided the TU program to three straight winning campaigns, including last year as Tusculum advanced to the SAC semifinal before succumbing to eventual tournament champion Lincoln Memorial.
Tusculum and Catawba will meet in the SAC Tournament for a sixth time and first since the two clashed in the 2009 championship game where the Indians were victorious, 63-61 in Hickory, North Carolina. Catawba has won three of the five postseason match-ups with the Pioneers as every SAC Tournament between the two teams has been decided by four points or less.
The Pioneers and Catawba Indians played only once this season, but it was an instant classic. Tusculum rallied from a seven-point deficit with under two minutes remaining and got a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Trenton Gibson in a 74-72 win in Salisbury, North Carolina on Jan. 9, 2021. It was TU's first buzzer beater victory since Douglas Tshomba's game-winning triple in an 89-88 win over Catawba in 2005.
The winner of Monday's game will advance to Thursday's semifinal against the winner of the game between third-seeded Carson-Newman and sixth-seeded Wingate. Tusculum would be home if they advance with a win over Catawba, while the Indians would be on the road for the semifinal with a victory over the Pioneers. The championship game will be played Sunday, March 7 at the highest remaining seed.
LAST WEEK'S GAME
Tusculum used a 21-2 run in the second half to overcome an 11-point deficit in defeating Lenoir-Rhyne 78-67 in TU's final outing and completing a perfect 7-0 regular season mark at home. Five Pioneers finished in double figures including 13 points from senior Brandon Mitchell. Mitchell went 6-of-10 from the floor with all his scoring coming in the second half, which included three dunks. He also became TU's all-time blocked shots leader with 160 rejections.
James West IV continued his torrid play with a team-best 18 points, while SAC Player of the Year candidate Trenton Gibson tallied 17 points and 12 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. Sophomore guard Keaston Brown added 13 points including career-highs with three 3-pointers and six assists off the bench. SAC Freshman of the Year hopeful Inady Legiste contributed 10 points and seven rebounds against the Bears.
SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
The Pioneers lead the South Atlantic Conference in three defensive categories including blocked shots (4.3 bpg – 15th in NCAA II), steals per game (8.8 spg – 15th in NCAA II) and three-point field goal percentage defense (29.8% - 12th in NCAA II). TU also leads the league in offensive rebounding averaging 14.5 rebounds per contest which are 10th in the nation. Tusculum is also third in the league in total rebounds per contest (41.19 rpg – 15th in NCAA II) and fourth in rebound margin (+4.2 – 43rd in NCAA II).
Junior guard Trenton Gibson leads the way for the Pioneers averaging 18.7 points per game which is fourth-best in the league. He is third in the SAC with his 7.9 rebounds per game average and third with 4.8 assists per game (38th in NCAA II). He is the only player in the conference listed in the top-five statistically in scoring, rebounding and assists. He is also eighth in the SAC averaging 1.5 steals per game and is second in the conference with his 106 free throws made (4th in NCAA II) and 128 free throw attempts (7th in NCAA II).
Gibson is the only player to start in all 16 games this season and has scored in double figures in all but one. He has scored 10 or more points in his last 10 games averaging 18.5 ppg during that span.
Gibson is 22nd all-time in the 110-year history of Tusculum basketball with his 1,113 career points. He is already listed in the program's top-10 in assists (306 – 10th), assist average (3.97 apg – 7th), rebound average (6.22 rpg – 4th), free throws made (342 – 6th), free throw attempts (429 – 6th) and free throw percentage (79.7% - 7th). He is also four steals away from the 100th of his career.
After missing seven games due to injury in January, James West IV has emerged as one of the hottest players in the league. He is averaging 17.4 points per contest including a sizzling 21.6 ppg since his return to the line-up on Feb. 3. He poured in a career-best 26 points at Coker College, following his 22-point effort in Tusculum's 90-74 upset win over No. 8 Lincoln Memorial two weeks ago.
The Mount St. Mary transfer is shooting 48.3 percent from the floor and 46 percent from three-point territory. He is averaging 3.8 three-pointers per game this season, including 4.8 treys per contest in his last five games. His eight triples at Coker are tied for the seventh most in TU history.
Senior forward Brandon Mitchell took over sole possession in the TU record book with his 160th career blocked shot in last Wednesday's game with Lenoir-Rhyne. His 590 career rebounds are the 10th most in program history while his 5.84 rebounds per game average is eighth in the TU record book. He has totaled 690 career points, 65 assists and 75 steals while starting in 73 of his 101 games as a Pioneer. This year, Mitchell is averaging 6.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and a team-best 1.50 blocked shots per game (2nd in SAC / 33rd in NCAA II).
He holds the TU single-season record with 62 blocked shots in his 32 outings last year and was one of the top offensive rebounders in the country totaling 116 last season, for an impressive 3.63 rebounds per game average, just on the offensive end of the floor.
Rookie forward Inady Legiste is making a strong case for SAC Freshman of the Year consideration averaging 8.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game (14th in SAC) while leading the team in field goal percentage at (.505 – 12th in SAC). Legiste is also second on the roster in blocked shots, averaging 1.25 rejections per game, which are fourth in the league. He tallied 13 points off the bench in the win over LMU.
Sophomore Justin Mitchell has accounted for 7.0 points and 3.0 rebounds per game for the Pioneers in his 15 outings including eight starts. He is averaging 10.8 points per game in his last four outings including a dozen points and a career-best five steals against LMU. He also scored a career-best 15 in a home win against Mars Hill. Sophomore Joshua Scott is fourth on the team with his 6.8 points per game average. Scott is also pulling down 4.1 rebounds per game.
Sophomore Keaston Brown is averaging 6.6 points and 2.4 rebounds per contest as he has played in all 16 games including 12 starts. Brown is second on the team in assists, dishing out 2.6 helpers per game and is second on the team in steals posting 1.44 per game (11th in SAC).
SCOUTING THE CATAWBA INDIANS
After opening the season with a 2-5 record and followed later with a five-game losing streak, the Catawba Indians have emerged as one of the hottest teams in the past two weeks, winning five in a row entering the SAC Quarterfinal match-up with Tusculum.
Head coach Rob Perron is in his sixth campaign in Salisbury and has guided the Catawba Indians to double-digit victories every season including 2018-19 when he tied a school single-season record for wins as the Tribe went 25-8 and advance to the NCAA Division II Tournament where they advanced to the Southeast Region semifinal.
Catawba went 20-10 campaign last season and moved onto the SAC Championship semifinal. The Indians were on their way to back-to-back NCAA postseason trips before the tournament was cancelled due to the pandemic.
Senior guard Marcus Burwell has emerged as the team's top scorer averaging 14.6 points per game (15th in SAC) including a season-high 30 points in the regular-season finale win over Wingate to secure a home game in the SAC opening round. He was held to seven points on Saturday against Limestone. Burwell is also fourth in the league dishing out 4.6 assists per contest.
Senior Larry McLeod is second on the team with his 12.9 points per game while shooting a team-best 57.6 percent from the floor (3rd in SAC). He is coming off a season-best 23 points against Limestone where he shot 10-of-13 from the floor. He is averaging 16 points per game in his last four outings and posted 11 markers in this year's meeting with Tusculum.
Junior guard Terrence Whitfield earned a spot on the 2020 SAC All-Tournament Team and is Catawba's No. 3 scorer this year averaging 11.8 points per game. Whitfield has been contributing off the bench in the last seven games and was held scoreless in his nine minutes in Saturday's game with the Saints. He scored 15 points last month against Tusculum.
THE SERIES
Monday will be the 51st recorded meeting between Tusculum and Catawba. The Catawba Indians lead the all-time series 28-22 and have won five of the last six meetings. Thirty-four (34) of the previous 50 contests have been decided by 10 points or less and 25 by five points or fewer including Tusculum's 74-72 buzzer-beating win in Salisbury in January.
FOLLOW THE GAME
Coverage of all the action of Tusculum men's basketball is on the Pioneer Sports Network. Fans can listen locally on WSMG Radio at 95.5 FM and 1450 AM, and on-line at jewel955.com. Live video and live stats links for all games are available at www.TusculumPioneers.com.
