JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – No. 22 Carson-Newman (1-0) raced out to an 18-point first half lead and stiff-armed Barton (1-2) 97-69 during the Carson-Newman Classic Friday afternoon at Holt Fieldhouse. 

Antoine Davis (Rustburg, Va.) pumped in his 1,000^th career point with a layup from the right side with 4:09 left in the first half to give the Eagles a 36-21 lead.  Davis finished with 18 points.

"Two years and one game, that's all it took for him" Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "What's crazy, he gets hurt at Hiwassee, if he doesn't he has it last year.  He's the consummate teammate.  He never takes days off, he never takes days off and I'm going to enjoy every moment we have with him here in his senior year."

Carson-Newman used a 14-4 first half run, coupled with an 8-spurt to race out a 50-32 halftime lead.  The Eagles toasted the nets to the tune of 50.8 percent shooting while holding Barton to 35 percent shooting for the contest. 

Davis wasn't the only Eagle to hit a milestone; Ish Sanders (Cleveland, Tenn.) broke the 1,400-point barrier with his game high 21-point effort.  Sanders turned in a five-assist and five steal performance as well, the latter – a career high.  

Davis had the first game in career with 18 points, seven assists and seven rebounds.  His and-one with 3:32 left in the first half produced C-N's 18 point lead, one that the Eagles would not let dip below double digits. 

"For the most part, our guys were just so hungry to play somebody," Benson said. "We've really been on these guys aggressively. They were motivated and ready to play.  That's what accounts for that."

Carson-Newman held Chris Flemmings, Barton's lone returning starter from last season's Sweet 16 team, to 11 points, five below his average. Evan Shelton was the Bulldogs' only other double-digit scorer.  He too had 11.

The Eagles countered with a pair more of double-figure scorers.  Carson Brooks (Knoville, Tenn.) matched a career high with 18 points while Jared Johnson (Springfield, Mass.) poured in 15 on six-for-six shooting. 

"I told our guys that we can't think we beat an inferior team," Benson said. "We didn't, Barton is a rich program with its tradition – they won the DII championship in 2007 and went deep in the tourney last year. This is a quality win, I was afraid of how we'd handle their pressure, but then again, we've kept our players in the pressure cooker the last two months."

The Eagles forced 18 turnovers and turned them into 14 points.  C-N also made assists on 26 of their 32 made field goals. 

Carson-Newman closed the game on a 9-2 run to end the game with their largest lead at 28 points. 

Josh Rogers (Bristol, United Kingdom) also matched a career high with nine points.  He was a board and a point away from a double-double. 

Carson-Newman continues play in the Carson-Newman Classic Saturday at 5 p.m. against Trevecca Nazarene.  The Trojans fell to Tusculum 110-106 in the first game of the Classic.  Pregame coverage for the TNU begins at 4:45 p.m. on the Eagle Sports Network with the Countdown to Tipoff on 106.3 ESPN Radio The Zone (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.

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