GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Connor Jordan scored a game-high 17 points including 14 in the second half as the Tusculum men's basketball team defeated visiting Carson-Newman 78-69 Wednesday night at Pioneer Arena in South Atlantic Conference action.
The Pioneers (12-10, 8-7 SAC) complete the season-sweep over the Eagles (11-14, 5-10 SAC) and extend its winning streak over their arch-rivals to five in a row. Tusculum also maintains sole possession of second place in the SAC Mountain Division standings, while C-N sees its losing streak to go six straight.
The Tusculum defense forced 18 turnovers on 13 steals resulting into 27 points, while the Pioneers only turned the ball over seven times on the evening.
Freshman Kyle Brown posted his second double-digit performance against the Eagles as he poured in a season-high 13 points as he went 5-of-7 with a three-pointer and 2-of-2 from the free throw line.
James West IV and Justin Mitchell added 11 points each for the Pioneers while Jalen Crowder and Makai Olden had eight markers each. TU forward Inady Legiste got into early foul trouble was limited to just 16 minutes where he tallied five points and five rebounds.
Nick and Luke Brenegan paced Carson-Newman as the brother duo had 12 points piece, while Bryant Thomas, Jack Browder and Tyler Bowens accounted for nine points each in the loss.
Tusculum opened the game with a 10-2 run as Olden slammed home an alley-oop pass from Kobe Funderburk for the first points of the evening.
Carson-Newman wasn't rattled as the Eagles answered with a 17-4 run to take a 19-14 lead at the 9:33 mark of the half. Mitchell hit a jumper to cut the deficit to three, but C-N followed with a 9-2 spurt which was capped off by a Luke Brenegan triple as the Eagles went out to its largest lead of the game at 27-18 with 5:14 left before halftime.
Tusculum answered with a 15-2 run over a 4:32 span which included 10 points by Brown as the Pioneers led 33-29 with 41 seconds left.
C-N's Nick Brenegan connected on a jumper just before halftime as the Pioneers led 33-31 at the intermission.
Tusculum went on an 11-2 run early in the second period as Funderburk nailed a corner three-pointer to give the Pioneers a 44-35 lead with 15:04 to go on the clock.
Over the next 2:03, Carson-Newman whittled the deficit down to 46-44 thanks to a 9-2 run which including a three-pointer by John Zhao and three consecutive buckets by Bowens.
Tusculum moved the lead out to five on three occasions including 57-52 at the 8:31 mark. The Eagles worked their way to the free throw line on back-to-back possessions as Luke Brenegan and Bowens each connected on a pair of trail 57-56 with 7:23 left.
But a 9-1 Tusculum run over the next five minutes which was culminated by five points by Legiste including a three-point play as the Pioneers led 66-57 with 2:56 remaining.
The Eagles cut the TU lead to a six-point margin on three occasions down the stretch including 71-65 with 1:26 on the board. The Pioneers went 8-of-10 at the line in the final 2:14 along with field goals by Crowder and Jordan to seal the win.
The Eagles finished the game shooting 52 percent from the floor and out-rebounded the Pioneers by a 32-30 margin. Tusculum shot 49.2 percent from the field including 16-of-30 in the second half (53.3%). TU ended the night shooting 12-of-16 from the free throw line, all in the second half.
The Pioneers will host Newberry College this Saturday for Senior Day at Tusculum beginning at 4 p.m. It will be Tusculum's regular-season home finale.
