GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Senior Justin Mitchell scored a career-high 21 points as the Tusculum Pioneers rallied to a 78-67 South Atlantic Conference win over the Newberry Wolves Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Arena on Senior Day.
The Pioneers (13-10, 9-7 SAC) overcame a six-game halftime deficit to outscore the Wolves (17-9, 10-6 SAC) 40-23 in the final period and halt Newberry's seven-game winning streak.
With the win, Tusculum remains in second place in the SAC Mountain Division standings and have a one-game lead over third place UVA Wise (16-10, 8-8 SAC).
Tusculum shot a blistering 60.9 percent for the game and were model of consistency as the Pioneers shot 14-of-23 from the floor in each half to go 28-for-46 as TU recorded its third consecutive victory. The Pioneers went 10-of-16 from three-point territory for 62.5 percent including 5-of-7 in the second half (71.4%). Tusculum also went 12-of-15 from the free throw line (80%).
Mitchell finished the day going 7-of-10 from the field, 2-of-3 from three-point land and 5-of-7 from the foul stripe. He also grabbed a team-best six rebounds while dishing out two assists and made two steals, giving him 98 thefts for his career.
Tusculum juniors Connor Jordan and Inady Legiste contributed 13 and 11 points, respectively off the bench.
TU senior Jacob Hobbs went 5-for-5 from the floor for his 11 points while also matching a career-best with his four steals.
Newberry's Drake Downs led the Wolves with his 13 markers and three blocked shots. Quandaveon McCollum and Andrew Robinson had 12 points apiece, while Malik Joseph had 11 points and five boards in the loss.
Despite shooting over 60 percent in the first half, the Pioneers found themselves behind by a 44-38. The Wolves forced 10 first half turnovers by Tusculum while only committing three on their end of the floor.
The Pioneers turned that trend around in the second period as TU forced a dozen turnovers by the Wolves and converting those miscues into 16 points.
Trailing 48-43 with 17:47 remaining the game, Tusculum went on a 20-6 run over a span of 8:47 to take a 63-54 lead with nine minutes to go.
The Wolves scored eight in a row including a pair of three-pointers by Robinson to trim the deficit to one at 63-62 with 6:15 on the scoreboard.
The Pioneers scored six straight including a Hobbs dunk as TU extended the lead out to seven (69-62) with 3:40 remaining.
The Wolves would cut the TU lead to four on two occasions, but the Pioneers would score the final seven points of the game including a clinching three-pointer by freshman Kyle Brown as Tusculum held on for the victory.
Tusculum recorded 18 assists on its 28 field goals including four helpers by sophomore KJ Crump.
Newberry out-rebounded the Pioneers by a 31-27 margin including 15-3 on the offensive glass resulting into 15 second-chance points.
Tusculum will close out the regular season with a pair of road games next week, starting with Wednesday's trip to the Electric City to face Anderson University for a 7:30 p.m. contest.
