Chuck Benson Postgame interview

WINGATE, N.C. – Carson-Newman (7-3, 4-2 South Atlantic Conference) hit the reset button following a 17-day layoff and a two-game losing streak with an 80-72 road victory over league-leading Wingate (8-2, 5-1 SAC) at Cuddy Arena.

Wingate came into the game as the number one team in the nation in field goal percentage defense, C-N made the second highest percentage of shots the Bulldogs had allowed all year at 46.3 percent. The solid shooting by the Eagles stopped an eight-game win streak for the Bulldogs. 

"This is our best performance of the season," C-N head coach Chuck Benson said. "We were down going into Christmas break and we had some veteran guys with some resolve going into this thing that they were going to get their minds right headed into the second semester."

Ish Sanders (Cleveland, Tenn.) snapped out a shooting slump with a 25-point night (the most points ever scored by a Chuck Benson-coached team against Wingate) bolstered by a career high 13 free throws on 14 attempts. 

"Ish came to me in the locker room after the game and he just gave me a high five," Benson said. "Nothing had to be said. He broke out of that slump by being aggressive going to the rim."  

Carson-Newman trailed 6-3 three minutes into the game before a 9-0 run capped off by a Sanders knifing layup gave the Eagles a six-point edge. 

That run was aided by a string of nine possessions for the Bulldogs where they turned it over seven times. 

A 13-0 run by the Eagles starting around the nine-minute mark produced a game best 14-point lead for the Eagles. 

Antoine Davis (Rustburg, Va.) connected on a three from the right wing before Sanders took the rock to the tin for a layin to produce the lead for the Eagles.

However, Wingate would use a 7-0 run spanning the half and then an 8-0 spurt topped by a Xavier Griffin finger roll with 11:39 left in the second half to take a one-point lead. 

The Eagles immediately erased it with a Kevin Leatherwood (Charlottesville, Va.) two-hand stick back. C-N would proceed to go on another 9-0, finished by a deep Davis lead to put its lead out to eight with 8:18 to go. Thanks to another 8-0 run that pushed the lead back to double digits, Wingate would get no closer than seven the rest of the way.

"That is a really good Wingate team, there's a reason they were 5-0 in our league," Benson said. "We tried to do some things different defensively on them that historically we don't do to try to slow down their all-everything players Deion Turman and Ryan Daye. Thankfully we were able to score enough points to balance them out."

Davis contributed 21 points on seven-of-12 shooting, including four-of-three from deep.  Jared Johnson (Springfield, Mass.).  Wingate countered with four players in double figures led by Josh Dominguez's 20 points.  The freshman was six-for-11 from three.  The league's second leading scorer Ryan Daye had 19. 

Xavier Griffin and Deion Turman each contributed 12 for the Bulldogs. Turman produced the first double-double the Eagles have allowed this year with 12 boards.  However, Wingate shot a season high 29 threes, making 10. An offensive tactic that Benson thought helped the Eagles succeed. 

"They took around 30 threes and that's not what they want to do," Benson said. "Wingate played in a way that was to our favor."

Carson-Newman turned 12 Wingate turnover into 15 points.  The Eagles coughed it up eight times, but the Bulldogs netted just four points off those TOs. 

C-N also had nine fast break points to two for the Bulldogs.

The Eagles return home Wednesday to face Mars Hill. Tipoff against the Lions is set for 8 p.m. Pregame coverage on the Eagle Sport Network begins at 7:45 with the Countdown to Tipoff on 106.3 ESPN Radio the Zone (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. 

-CN-