JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. — Senior forward Darron Maxtion
(Huntsville, Ala.) tallied a game-high 23 points and freshman
forward Collin Crane (Knoxville, Tenn.) netted a career-high 13
points to lead the Carson-Newman men’s basketball team to a
76-57 victory over Lees-McRae on Wednesday afternoon at Holt
Fieldhouse.
With the win, the Eagles improve to 5-5 on the season, while
Lees-McRae falls to 1-7.
“I was really pleased with the win,” C-N head coach
Dale Clayton said. “I thought what we saw on the floor
resembled how we practiced in the last two practices, and that was
really good to see. We took everything from practice and carried it
over to the game.”
Maxtion, who has combined to score 52 points in his last two
outings, was 10-of-12 from the floor and grabbed eight rebounds to
lead the Eagles.
Junior guard Erwin Staten (Huntsville, Ala.) chipped in nine points
on 3-of-4 shooting from behind the arc in his first action of the
season after missing the first nine games with a fractured foot.
Junior center Brandon Evans (Salem, Va.) was a force in the paint
with seven points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots.
“He plays hard,” Clayton said of Evans. “His
strength is blocking shots and rebounding. He kept them from
getting a lot of baskets around the goal, and I thought that was a
big factor.”
Daniel Sepokas and Stephen Haymer tossed in 11 and 10 points,
respectively, to pace the Bobcats.
C-N shot 53.4 percent (31-of-58) for the game, including 47.4
percent (9-of-19) from 3-point range. Lees-McRae connected on just
32.8 percent (20-of-61) of its shots.
The Eagles held a 43-38 lead at the break after sophomore guard
Michael Nicolo (Englewood, Tenn.) beat the buzzer with a layup.
C-N stepped up its defensive pressure in the second half, holding
the Bobcats to 19 points. The Eagles went on an 18-7 run to build a
61-45 lead on a layup by Maxtion with 7:15 left in the contest.
The Eagles never allowed Lees-McRae to trim their lead below 12
points and led by as many as 20 points late in the half.
C-N held the Bobcats to just 20 percent (5-of-25) shooting during
the final 20 minutes.
“The zone (defense) really helped us,” Clayton said.
“The adjustment at halftime was to stop the penetration
against the zone, especially from the top. Once we did that, then
they didn’t really have any options. The guys did a great job
in the zone.”
The Eagles return to South Atlantic Conference play on Saturday
afternoon against Newberry. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. at Holt
Fieldhouse. All children ages 12 and under will receive free
admission to the game.