Tusculum College outscored Mars Hill University 9-1 over the final 33 minutes to earn a 15-5 victory in South Atlantic Conference men's lacrosse action Wednesday night at Pioneer Field.

Andrew Kransberger scored a season-high four goals while Keegan Bell, Nate Wade and Dallas Wade had three goals apiece for the Pioneers (4-8, 3-4 SAC), whose 15 goals were a season high. Nate Wade added three assists for a career-best six points, with Chris Ryan chipping in with a goal and three assists for Tusculum, which outshot Mars Hill 30-26 and won 14-of-23 faceoffs in the game.

Kransberger, who equaled his season high with five points, scored in each quarter for the Pioneers, who led 3-2 at the end of one quarter and 9-4 at halftime before outscoring the Lions (3-9, 3-5 SAC) 6-1 in the second half.

Mars Hill opened the scoring on the first of three goals from Dima Ferriera with 2:19 gone in the first quarter, but Dallas Wade knotted the score at 1-1 nearly a minute and a half later. Bell's first of the night gave the Pioneers a 2-1 lead with 8:16 remaining in the first quarter, before Kransberger made it 3-1 with 6:06 left. Jake Trafton stopped the Tusculum run and pulled Mars Hill within a goal when he scored with nine seconds left in the quarter to make it a 3-2 game heading to the second quarter.

The Pioneers received goals from Nate Wade and Tyler Klarner 24 seconds apart to go on top 5-2 with 13:31 left in the quarter. Nate Wade tallied with 5:35 left in the half for a 6-2 Tusculum lead, but Ferreira and Chase Pretti-Pearsall brought the Lions within 6-4 on goals exactly one minute apart. Tusculum took control in the final three minutes of the half, receiving goals from Kransberger, Ryan and Dallas Wade in a span of just over a minute and a half to send the Pioneers to the break ahead 9-4.

The Pioneers scored all three goals in the third quarter, with Nate Wade, Bell and Kransberger each tallying in the final seven minutes to push the Pioneers on top 12-4. Dallas Wade gave Tusculum a 13-4 lead with 12:30 to play, before Ferriera broke the Lions' scoring drought at 23 minutes at the 9:42 mark. Kransberger and Bell closed out the scoring for the Pioneers, whose previous high was 13 goals against Brevard on March 5.

On defense, Ross Parsons and Jake Smith shared the team high in ground balls with six for Tusculum, with Parsons going 9-for-13 on faceoffs. Parsons also had a pair of caused turnovers for the Pioneers, who forced the Lions into 14 turnovers in the game. Clay Peregoy and Paxton Turner had five ground balls apiece to lead the Lions, with Pretti-Pearsall adding four ground balls and two caused turnovers.

Tusculum went 1-for-3 with the man advantage in the game, and successfully killed off both of Mars Hill's man-up opportunities. The Pioneers were 14-for-16 on clears, while the Lions went just 8-for-13 in the game.

Pioneer goalkeeper Kevin Haggerty earned the victory by making 13 saves in goal, including five in the fourth quarter. Ryan Kearney finished the game with five saves for Mars Hill.

Tusculum will conclude its regular season on Saturday, April 23 at Wingate, with game time scheduled for 4 p.m.