GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University men's basketball team used a 16-0 run in the first half to lead the Pioneers to an 83-59 South Atlantic Conference win over Mars Hill Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Arena.
After opening the season with five straight road losses, Tusculum (3-5, 3-1 SAC) has roared back with three consecutive wins including back-to-back home victories. It was also TU's ninth win in a row over the Lions (4-2, 2-2 SAC) and its eighth consecutive victory in Greeneville over their cross-mountain rivals.
Malachi Hale led all players with his 24 points including 18 markers in the second half. He went 9-of-12 from the floor including 5-of-8 from three-point territory. He also grabbed a season-high eight rebounds in the win. Bryce Jackson added 15 points and five assists, while freshman Denaj Kimber posted a season-best 15 points to go along with four assists and three steals.
Mars Hill's Kadyn Dawkins contributed 14 points, while Marvin Hires and Dinari Boykin contributed nine markers apiece.
Tusculum shot 15-of-27 from the floor for 46 percent on the day while connecting on a season-high 11 three-pointers. TU limited the Lions to 38 percent shooting including 4-of-25 from downtown (16%).
Mars Hill jumped out to an early 9-5 advantage following Dawkins' three-pointer 4:16 into the contest. Tusculum responded with 16 unanswered points over a span of 5:34 as MHU missed 10 straight shots. Kimber scored six points during the run while Ryan Neal added five points including his jumper at the 10:10 mark to push the TU lead to 21-9.
The Lions cut the deficit to nine (26-17) following a fast-break jumper by Daniel Mayfield. The Pioneers answered with an 8-1 spurt sparked by a pair of Hale triples to extend the lead to 34-18 with 4:06 left in the half. The lead would remain double digits for the rest of the period as Tusculum took a 40-28 advantage into the locker room.
Mayfield opened the half with a dunk for Mars Hill but TU would get six straight including layup from Hale and a jumper from freshman Jason Britton as the Pioneers led 46-30 with 18:25 remaining.
Mars Hill responded with a 13-5 run over the next 5:41 to trim the deficit to 51-43 with 12:34 to go.
TU stopped the run with seven straight points thanks for four markers by Jackson as the Pioneers led 58-43 with 9:34 on the clock. Back came the Lions with five in a row including a three-pointer from Dawkins to make it a 58-48 contest with 7:42 left.
But Tusculum closed out the game with runs of 12-2 and 13-4 to put the game out of reach and secure its third consecutive win.
Ten (10) different Pioneers found their way into the scoring column including five each from Akeem Odusipe, Josiah Morris, Jackson Owens and Ryan Neal. Britton tallied four points, Michael Richerson tallied three points and Taj Kimber added two points, four assists and three steals.
Tusculum out-rebounded the Lions by a 42-31 margin with Odusipe leading the way with a season-high 11 rebounds for his seventh career game with 10 or more boards.
Both teams committed 13 turnovers each, but the Pioneers recorded 11 steals resulting in 23 points for the Black & Orange. TU also tallied 21 assists on its 29 made field goals. Mars Hill finished with six blocked shots including three by Chase McWhite off the bench.
Tusculum will be in action on Tuesday for an exhibition game at NCAA Division I College of Charleston beginning at 7 p.m.
