GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University men's basketball team used a 22-9 second half run as the Pioneers rallied to a thrilling 113-104 South Atlantic Conference win over Coker University Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Arena.
Tusculum (12-12, 10-8 SAC) shot a blistering 62.5 percent from the floor including 12-of-22 from three-point territory as the Pioneers avenged an earlier season loss and moved into a tie with the Cobras (14-14, 10-8) for fifth place in the league standings.
Six Pioneers scored in double figures, led by Connor Jordan's 22-point effort, while senior Kobe Funderburk came a point shy of a career-high with his season-best 20 markers. Funderburk made his first six shots including five straight 3-pointers. Redshirt freshman Bryce Jackson accounted for 19 points, while Akeem Odusipe scored a career-best 17 points as he was a perfect 7-of-7 from the floor and hauled in a team-high seven rebounds. Jacob Hobbs scored a season-best 15 points for a second straight outing, while Josiah Morris added 11 points in the victory.
Coker placed six players in double-digit scoring led by Mahmoud Bangura's 21 points off the bench while Hayden Abdullah finished with 20 points. Demar Anderson added 14 points, Tate Mulkey had a dozen and AJ Burch tallied 10. Andre Leavell came a rebound shy of recording a triple-double as he posted 11 points, 10 assists and nine boards.
Tusculum's 40 made field goals are tied for the ninth-most in recorded program history, while TU's 26 assists are also tied for the ninth-most in the school record book.
The Cobras came out of the gate on fire scoring the first seven points of the game in the opening 1:51 of the contest. TU responded with a 9-3 spurt to trim the deficit to one (10-9) following a Morris triple.
Later in the period with Coker ahead 23-17, the visitors went on a 13-5 run to give the Cobras their largest lead of the game at 36-22 with 9:03 left in the period.
The Cobras continued to keep the offensive pressure on, but TU brought in Funderburk off the bench and he helped the Pioneers stay within striking distance as he hit two 3-pointers in a row and converted an old fashion three-point play as TU trailed 43-33 with 6:44 left in the half. The teams traded layup before Funderburk hit is third triple of the half as the Coker lead was whittled down to 45-38.
Jordan's two free throws at the 5:01 mark cut the once 14-point deficit down to five at 45-40.
The Cobras scored seven straight including a Glenn Bynum, Jr. layup to up the Coker advantage to 54-42 with 3:09 on the clock.
Funderburk hit his fourth consecutive 3-pointer and after a steal by Printup, Jordan buried a triple from the wing as the Pioneers trailed by six at 54-48 with two minutes left.
Coker's Ian Blue answered with a three of his own, but Funderburk connected on his fifth in a row, Mulkey had a response with another 3-pointer for the visitors. But Jackson answered for the Pioneers with TU's eighth triple of the half. Bangura made two free throws before TU's KJ Crump hit an acrobatic layup just before halftime as the Cobras led 62-56 at the intermission.
Coker shot 73 percent in the first half going 24-of-33 from the field including 6-of-9 from beyond the arch (67%). TU went 22-of-36 after 20 minutes for 61 percent and 8-of-15 from downtown.
Tusculum scored the first four points of the second half to trail 62-60 with 18:20 remaining. Mulkey made it 65-60 with his three-pointer, but the Pioneers would tie the game at 65-65 thanks to baskets by Hobbs and Jordan. After a layup by Bangura, TU took its first lead of the game with 15:25 left thanks to Josiah Morris' three-pointer from the corner. It would be a lead the Pioneers would not relinquish for the remainder of the contest.
TU pushed their lead out to 82-74 thanks to three-pointers by Morris and Jackson with 12:19 left on the scoreboard.
The Cobras kept the Pioneers in sight and trailed by three points on three occasions down the stretch including 94-91 with 5:15 remaining.
TU got back-to-back buckets from Hobbs including his fast-break dunk with 4:30 left on the clock as the Pioneers went up 98-91.
Coker got a three-point play by Abdullah 13 seconds later as the Cobras were down 98-94 with 4:17 to go. The teams traded points on the next two trips down the court before Jackson made a pair of free throws and Jordan hit one of his two tries at the foul line as the Pioneers led 103-96.
But after a turnover by the Cobras with 1:22 left, Jackson was called for a technical foul, turning the ball over and Burch would make two free throws as the Pioneer lead was cut to 103-98.
Jordan scored for the Pioneers with his jumper from the free throw line with the shot clock running out with 53.7 seconds left to extend the TU lead back out to seven at 105-98.
But the on the ensuing Coker possession, Burch would be fouled while shooting a three-pointer from the right corner. He would make all three of his free throws as the Cobras drew within four at 105-101 with 44.9 second left.
The Pioneers broke the press and Odusipe put down a dunk to make it a two-possession game at 107-101 with 41 seconds remaining.
After a missed three-pointer by the Cobras, Jordan would be fouled with 30.2 seconds left and he would make his free throws to put the game out of reach.
The last time Tusculum placed six players in double figure scoring came against King on Nov. 10, 2017 in the season-opener.
TU's 113 points are a season-high and the most by the Pioneers at home since posting 113 points against Mars Hill on Feb. 22, 2017. The 107 points scored by Coker are the most by a TU opponent in a win since surrendering 104 to Lees-McRae (105-104) on Nov. 17, 1997.
Tusculum forced 16 turnovers on a dozen steals resulting into 22 points. TU outscored the Cobras 52-44 in the paint and held a 51-6 advantage in fast break points.
The 217 combined points matches the most ever scored by two opponents at Pioneer Arena since Feb. 5, 2005 in a 116-101 victory over Wingate.
Tusculum will play its home finale this Wednesday when they host UVA Wise for Senior Night. TU will recognize its five seniors immediately following the women's contest, which precedes the men's game.
