WISE, Va. --- Trenton Gibson scored 17 points including the game-winning jumper with 2.8 seconds remaining as Tusculum rallied from a 13-point deficit to edge host UVA Wise 80-76 Saturday afternoon at the Prior Center.
The Pioneers (4-2, 4-0 SAC) remain atop the South Atlantic Conference standings and are off to their first 4-0 start since joining the league in 1998. TU's last 4-0 start to a league season was during the 1956-57 campaign as a member of the Smoky Mountain Athletic Conference.
Trailing 76-75, Gibson worked the clock down and drove to the right side of the lane where he put up an eight-foot leaning jump which went in and was fouled on the play. He would make the free throw to give TU a 78-76 lead.
The Cavaliers (0-6, 0-4 SAC) never got a shot off as TU's Inady Legiste intercepted the in-bounds pass and was fouled with 1.9 seconds. He would make both free throws to provide the final margin of victory as the Pioneers recorded its seventh straight win over UVA Wise.
Tusculum's William Vedder led the visitors with his third double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Vedder went 8-of-12 from the floor but only went 2-of-5 from the free throw line. James West IV added 10 points for TU, while Justin Mitchell and Legiste finished with nine markers each. Legiste also had six rebounds and a career-best four blocked shots.
UVA Wise's Makai Vassell led all scorers with 21 points, while also grabbing nine rebounds. Joel Pettiford posted a career-best 20 points as went 8-of-8 with a three-pointer. Wise's Kaeleb Carter added 17 points and Ben Bryson tallied nine points, seven rebounds and six assists in the loss.
Tusculum also rallied from a double-digit deficit for the first time this season and the ninth occasion during the Coach J.T. Burton era (2018-present).
The Pioneers took an early 5-2 lead following a West three-pointer, but Wise erupted for a 23-7 spurt, which was capped off by a Carter triple and a 25-12 lead for the Cavs at the 11:02 mark of the period. Tusculum answered with a 15-3 run of its own to trail 30-27 with 5:10 on the clock. UVA Wise close out the period with an 11-2 flurry as TU missed its final five shots and trailed 41-29 heading into the locker room.
The Cavaliers led 49-38 with 17 minutes remaining in regulation, but the Pioneers responded with seven straight points as Legiste blocked a pair of Wise dunk attempts which resulted in a West triple and a Justin Mitchell dunk as TU trailed 49-45 with 15:13 to go.
Back-to-back layups from Vassell pushed the Wise lead to 53-45 and would take another eight-point advantage of 55-47 with 13:27 remaining. TU scored eight in a row including a jumper and a three-point play from Gibson to knot the game at 55-55 with 11:06 to go.
UVA Wise scored five straight to lead 61-56, but the Pioneers responded with five in a row to tie it again at 61-61 with 6:31 on the scoreboard.
Two free throws by Vassell broke the deadlock, but Vedder answered with a layup to tie the game 65-65 with 5:32 remaining. Vassell scored in the paint again but TU responded with a West layup and Gibson scored on a layup after Wise offensive foul as TU took its second lead of the game at 69-67 with 4:28 remaining. TU pushed the lead out to five (72-67) as Mitchell made a layup and Vedder made one of two free throws with 2:46 remaining.
The Cavaliers answered with a 7-1 run and retook the lead on Bradley Dean's three-pointer with 1:10 remaining, 74-73. Vedder and the Pioneers retook the lead with his basket, but Vassell's jumper returned the advantage to the hosts 75-74 with 28.9 seconds left to set up Gibson's heroics.
UVA Wise went 27-of-59 from the floor for 46 percent including 6-of-13 from three-point land (46%). The Pioneers went 32-of-74 (43%), but only 5-of-23 from three-point territory. The Cavs won the rebound battle 43-37, but TU owned an 18-15 advantage on the offensive boards resulting in 19 second-chance points.
The Pioneers will travel to Queens University of Charlotte on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. contest against the fifth-ranked Royals. It will be a match-up of the only undefeated teams in conference play.
