JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. — The seventh-seeded Carson-Newman
Eagles will begin postseason play on the road Wednesday night
against second-seeded Tusculum in the first round of the 2010 Food
Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament.
Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. at Pioneer Arena in Greeneville,
Tenn.
The meeting will be the first between the teams in the postseason
since the 2005 SAC Tournament.
“We are excited about our opportunity to play
Tusculum,” C-N head coach Dale Clayton said. “At this
point in the year, we really don’t have a preference of who
we play. We are happy to be playing.”
“We don’t have a real concern about going to Tusculum
to play because whether we are there or at home there are still
some key things we have to do. We’ve got to defend well,
rebound well and shoot the basketball. If we can do those three
things, then I think we can be successful.”
The Eagles (10-17, 5-11 SAC) pulled off an upset in Pioneer Arena
earlier this season as they defeated Tusculum, 62-58, in January.
The Pioneers (16-11, 10-6) then returned the favor in February with
a 77-51 victory at Holt Fieldhouse.
C-N enters the contest coming off a pair of road losses at Catawba
(71-65) and at Wingate (66-65). Tusculum dropped its regular season
finale last Wednesday, 63-61, at Mars Hill but it has won four out
of its last five contests.
C-N will face a tough challenge on both ends of the floor on
Wednesday. The Pioneers, who are last in the SAC in scoring offense
with an average of 65.9 points per game, strive to slow the game
down and be patient in their motion offense. Tusculum is currently
third in the league in field goal percentage (.470) and first in
3-point field goal percentage (.414).
Defensively, the Pioneers lead the league in scoring defense (61)
and 3-point field goal percentage defense (.293) and are second in
field goal percentage defense (.409).
Clayton said Tusculum’s style of play makes it a difficult
matchup for any team.
“Their style of play creates a lot of problems,”
Clayton offered. “You don’t face that very often. They
are very good at it, but again it all goes back to execution. We
know how we need to play them. If we can execute that game plan
then I think that we will be in good shape at the end of the
game.”
Slowing down Tusculum senior guard Kyle Moore will be key for the
Eagles to have success on Wednesday. Moore, who leads the SAC in
scoring with 24.9 points per game, scored 27 in C-N’s win in
January and fired in 39 points in Tusculum’s victory in
February.
“He had a stretch in the season where he had about five
great games in a row,” Clayton said of Moore. “He was
in one of those stretches (when Tusculum won). When he is playing
like that and some of their other players step up, it makes them a
very difficult team to beat.”
The winner of Wednesday’s matchup will advance to the SAC
Tournament semifinals, where it will face the winner of No.3
Brevard and No. 6 Wingate on Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:30
p.m. at Catawba Valley Community College in Hickory, N.C.