GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Trenton Gibson poured in 23 points off the bench, including 17 in the second half as the Tusculum Pioneers edged visiting Carson-Newman, 73-69 in a South Atlantic Conference men's basketball thriller Wednesday night.
The win was a personal milestone for Tusculum head coach J.T. Burton, who recorded his 200th career win as a collegiate head (4-year and 2-year combined). The Pioneers (1-2, 1-0 SAC) have won six of the last eight encounters with the Eagles (1-2, 0-1 SAC).
It was another exciting chapter in the 179th meeting recorded meeting between the Pioneers and Eagles, who met each other in last year's SAC Semifinal, which C-N came away with a 60-59 victory at Pioneer Arena. The two teams would meet again the opening round of the NCAA Division II Tournament as the Pioneers won in overtime (65-63).
This year's SAC opener included seven ties and eight lead changes as the game as the scoring margin remained in single digits throughout the night.
Gibson, the reigning SAC Player of the Year, was seeing his first action of the year, after missing last weekend's games at the Peach Belt Conference / SAC Challenge in Georgia.
Carson-Newman's Tripp Davis, scored two of his team-high 20 points with his two free throws with 3:22 remaining to even the game at 66-66 for the game's seventh and final tie.
The two teams exchanged turnovers over the next 20 seconds including a steal from James West IV which led to a basket by Justin Mitchell for a 68-66 TU lead with 2:36 left on the clock.
The Pioneers got the ball back on a C-N offensive foul, but the Pioneers were whistled for a shot-clock violation with 1:51 to go in the game.
C-N's Ren Dyer missed a three-pointer on the next possession. TU worked the clock down and with 1:08 to go, Gibson made a reverse layup in heavy traffic to give the Pioneers a four-point cushion (70-66).
Davis missed a layup, but teammate Bryant Thomas got the offensive rebound and put in the second chance and was fouled. He would convert the three-point play to trim the deficit to one (70-69) with 56 seconds remaining.
In a crazy five-second span, Tusculum turned the ball over, followed by a C-N turnover and then followed by another TU miscue as the Eagles called timeout with 33 seconds left and a chance to take the lead.
With 10 seconds remaining, Carson-Newman was whistled for traveling. Tusculum got the ball to Gibson, who was fouled hard by Davis with 8.1 seconds left which was ruled a flagrant foul. Gibson would make both free throws to make it a 72-69 game and TU would have possession as well.
Gibson was fouled immediately as he made the first free throw, but missed the second. C-N's Nick Brenegan got off a three-point try but his shot was blocked by West to end the game and secure the victory.
Gibson finished the night shooting 9-of-10 from the free throw line and 6-of-9 from the floor which included a pair of three-pointers. TU's William Vedder posted 16 points and nine rebounds, while Justin Mitchell had eight markers and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Davis shot 10-of-13 from the free throw line for the Eagles, while Bryant totaled 14 points, Bush has 12 points and Luke Brenegan added 10 points in the loss. Dyer finished with a game-high five assists and hauled in 10 rebounds for the Eagles.
Tusculum opened the game with an 11-2, which included three-pointers from Jalen Crowder and Vedder. The Eagles would respond with 20-2 run over a span of eight minutes. Brandon Mitchell's layup at the 12:50 mark was TU's only offense as the Pioneers went 1-for-16 during the drought including 13 straight missed shots.
Davis' made a pair of free throws with 7:20 left to give the Eagles their largest lead of the game at 22-13. Gibson would spark a TU rally as he got an offensive rebound and put-back for TU's first bucket in 5:30. It would be the opening volley of a 9-0 run which included a three-pointer from Justin Mitchell and a layup from Brandon Mitchell. Gibson's two free throws tied the game at 22-22 with 5:15 left before halftime.
The Eagles led 25-22, but the Pioneers went on a 5-0 spurt thanks to two free throws from Gibson and a triple from freshman KJ Crump as TU regained the lead at 27-25 with 3:05 left before the intermission.
C-N would get a tip-in from Dyer and a Tyler Bowens basket to lead once again at 30-28 with 1:40 to go. But a pair of Vedder free throws and a three-pointer from West and the Pioneers led 33-30. West would make one of two free throws with nine seconds on the clock for a 34-30 lead but Davis made a jumper in the paint at the buzzer to trim the TU lead down to 34-32 at the half.
The Eagles would come out strong in the second half and led by as many as seven (46-39) with 12:25 remaining in the game. A Vedder layup and a three-pointer from West made it 46-44 with 11:36 remaining on the scoreboard. Luke Brenegan answered with a triple of his own to make it a five-point lead again for the visitors.
The Pioneers responded with a 12-3 surge over the next four minutes which was capped off by Gibson's two free throws and a 58-52 lead with 7:52 remaining.
With TU up 60-55 with 6:53 to go, the Eagles made another charge and went on a 7-2 run and tied the game at 62-62 on Brenegan's triple at the 4:27 mark of the period to set the table for the thrilling stretch run.
Carson-Newman shot 45.3 percent from the floor, but only 2-of-8 from three-point territory (25%). Tusculum finished 23-of-57 from the field (40.4%) and made nine 3-pointers. Both teams were almost identical at the charity stripe (C-N 19-29, 66%; TU 18-29, 62%). The Pioneers won the rebound battle, 43-35 and finished with 14 assists on 23 field goals. The Eagles also came away with 13 steals on Tusculum's 21 turnovers.
For Burton, who also posted his 50th win at the helm of the Tusculum program, recorded 95 victories in his six seasons at St. Catherine College and 55 victories in two years at Motlow State Community College to give him 200 wins in his 12 years as a head coach.
The Pioneers return to action Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. when they travel to Salisbury, North Carolina and face the Catawba Indians. Tusculum won both meetings last year including a 74-72 win in Salisbury as Gibson made a three-pointer at the buzzer. TU also beat Catawba in the SAC Quarterfinal in Greeneville.
