GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- For a second time this season all 14 Tusculum players found their way into the scoring column as the Pioneers defeated visiting UVA Wise 89-62 on Senior Night at Pioneer Arena.
Tusculum (17-7, 17-5 South Atlantic Conference) recorded its third win in a row and outscored the Cavaliers 51-30 in the second half in completing the season-sweep. TU has won eight in a row over the Cavs (4-23, 3-20 SAC) as the Black & Orange remains in third place in the league standings.
Tusculum will wrap up the home portion of its regular season slate on Thursday when they host Mars Hill in a rescheduled game from earlier this month. Tip-off time is 5:30 p.m. TU is in the tail end of a stretch where they are playing six games in nine days.
The trio of Trenton Gibson, Joshua Scott and Justin Mitchell all scored 11 points apiece for the Pioneers. Inady Legiste added nine points and six rebounds, while William Vedder accounted for eight markers.
UVA Wise's Kervens Yacinthe led all scorers with 20 points including 14 in the opening half, while Joel Pettiford and Bradley Dean posted 14 and 12 points, respectively.
Tusculum finished the contest shooting 54.7 percent from the floor including a sizzling 20-of-32 in the second half (62.5%). UVA Wise finished the game gunning 25-of-66 from the field (38%). TU out-rebounded the Caves by a 47-31 margin including 14 offensive boards resulting into a 20-8 advantage in second chance points.
Tusculum used a 9-0 run early in the game to take a 15-8 lead at the 13:57 mark of the first half. A Pettiford dunk and five straight points by Dean lifted the visitors to a 15-15 tie with 12:15 to go in the period.
Tusculum went on an 11-0 spurt including a three-pointer by Jacob Hobbs and a four straight points from Brandon Mitchell as TU led 26-15 with 6:22 on the clock. Wise responded with a 12-2 run to pull the Cavs to within a point (28-27) thanks to six straight by Yacinthe with under three minutes left before halftime.
TU went on an 8-0 run on triples by Zack Dixon and Gibson for a 36-27 lead. The team traded baskets before Isaiah McAmis buried a three-pointer just before the halftime horn as the Pioneers took a 38-32 lead into the intermission.
Early in the second half, Tusculum pushed its lead out to double digits on six occasions in the first seven minutes of the period. TU went on a 15-4 run which was capped by a Justin Mitchell one-handed slam dunk to give the Pioneers a 66-47 lead with 9:48 remaining.
The Pioneers would increase their lead to as much as 29 on three separate occasions down the stretch before setting for the 89-62 victory.
Prior to Wednesday's game Gibson, Vedder, Dixon, Brandon Mitchell and James West IV were honored in pre-game ceremonies.
