GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Carson-Newman's Nick Brenegan poured in a game-high 27 points to lead the Eagles to an 83-73 South Atlantic Conference win at Tusculum Wednesday night at Pioneer Arena.
Carson-Newman (6-2, 1-1 SAC) snaps a five-game losing streak to its arch-rivals as the Eagles last win over Tusculum came in the 2021 SAC Semifinal in Greeneville.
C-N led wire-to-wire and jumped out to a 28-point lead in the opening period before carrying a 40-18 advantage at halftime.
Brenegan connected on six 3-pointers in the game and went 9-of-11 from the free throw line in the second half. The Eagles John Zhao added 23 points going 6-of-10 from the floor and 11-of-12 at the free throw line. Jack Browder added 14 points while Trey Hubbard finished with 10 points.
Tusculum redshirt freshman Bryce Jackson posted a season-best 24 points including 18 in the second half as the Pioneers trimmed a 28-point deficit down to single digits with over four minutes remaining in regulation. TU also got 18 points off the bench from Gemari Marshall and Connor Jordan added 11 markers in the loss.
The Eagles jumped out of the gate on fire and led 17-4 at the 13:19 mark of the first half following a dunk by Ben Beeker. Carson-Newman increased its lead to 23 points thanks to a 13-3 run which was capped off by Browder's layup with 7:25 left in the half.
The lead would swell to 40-12 at the 2:26 mark after a Browder triple. TU would score the final six points of the half thanks to back-to-back buckets by Ray'Quan Taylor and a Jordan jumper as the Pioneers trailed 40-18 at the intermission.
C-N shot a sizzling 52 percent from the floor (14-of-27) while limiting the Pioneers to just 8-of-31 (26%) shooting in the first 20 minutes.
The Eagles maintained their 20-plus point lead for most of the second half. The Pioneers cut the lead to 19 (50-31) following a steal and a three-point play on a dunk by Jackson with 14:22 left in the contest. C-N responded with a pair of Brenegan three-pointers to push the lead back to 56-31 with 14:04 to go.
Marshall hit a three-pointer and later connected on a pair of free throws to make it a 21-point game at 57-36. But Brenegan made another triple and Ousmane Dia slammed home a dunk to extend the lead to 62-36 with 12:23 on the clock.
The Pioneers (3-5, 1-2 SAC) went on a 23-6 run over the next 7:47 which was capped off by 11 unanswered points as TU trailed 68-59 with 4:02 on the scoreboard. The big run came when Jordan hit a three-pointer and Jackson stole the ensuing in-bounds pass and made the layup and was fouled on the play. He would convert the three-point play to cut the C-N lead to single-digits.
Brenegan would connect on two free throws, but Marshall answered with a basket to make it 70-61 with 3:23 to go. Zhao would score the next four points for the Eagles with his two free throws and a layup to push the lead back to 13 at 74-61 with 2:47 on the clock.
Marshall buried another jumper in the paint but Browder would be fouled on the next possession as he hit two more free throws with 2:28 left as the Eagles led 76-63. The teams would trade free throws before the Pioneers made one final charge.
Tusculum scored six in a row. Marshall hit two free throws and would come up with a steal in the backcourt. TU missed the three-pointer, but Jordan came down with the rebound and would be fouled attempting a three-pointer of his own. He made the first two free throws, but missed the third. Jackson would get the board and bucket to make it a 78-71 game with 26 seconds remaining.
Hubbard would be fouled and he would make one of his two free throws, but the Pioneers would commit a turnover and TU would be forced to foul. Brenegan would make four more free throws down the stretch to seal the victory for the Eagles.
After scoring only 18 points in the first half, the Pioneers responded with a 55-point half as TU shot 45 percent from the floor and went 14-of-17 at the free throw line in the second period.
Tusculum edged C-N 44-37 on the glass including 17-7 on the offensive boards resulting in 15 second chance points for the Pioneers. Carson-Newman finished the game shooting 25-of-52 from the floor (48%) and had 17 assists on its 25 field goals made. TU would finish shooting 37 percent (27-of-73) including 4-of-19 from three-point territory (21%).
The Pioneers will be at ETSU on Friday for a 7 p.m. exhibition game in Johnson City before returning to SAC action on Saturday when they travel to Newberry for a 4 p.m. contest at Eleazer Arena.
