VIDEO: Chuck Benson previews Lenoir-Rhyne
The Eagles and Bears are both tied with Newberry for fourth in the league's standings.
Carson-Newman has won four straight games against Lenoir-Rhyne. It's tied for the longest win streak for the Eagles in the 61- game series history with L-R. In fact, C-N has won six of the last seven with the Bears, but none by more than five points.
The matchup features the two most prolific scorers in the South Atlantic Conference in Charles Clark (Murfreesboro, Tenn) and Keenan Palmore. Palmore averages a shade under 22 points per game, while Clark is a hair over that margin.
Palmore has a whopping four triple doubles on the season. Palmore has produced his triple doubles against Catawba (29-14-10), Livingstone (14-10-13), Belmont Abbey (22-10-14) and Brevard (23-13-11).
Palmore had 29 points, eight rebounds and six assists against Carson-Newman in the first meeting this season, a 94-89 win for Carson-Newman in Holt Fieldhouse.
"It all starts with Keenan Palmore for them," head coach Chuck Benson said. "They're the second best three-point shooting team in the country. They are such a tough, tough scoring threat, but it all starts with Palmore.
"He can score near the rim, he rebounds on both ends and then he sets up his team. He is a catalyst for everything they do. Billy Bales, Will Perry, Reed Lucas and Rob Noyes are all elite level players, but Palmore makes everything go."
Lenoir-Rhyne is second in the country in made threes per game with 12.0 a game. The Bears have made fewer than 10 threes on just four occasions this season. The Bears are 3-1 in such games, with the lone loss to Lincoln Memorial on the road.
Shuford Memorial Gym has typically been a challenging place for Carson-Newman to play. The Eagles have two wins in the building under coach Chuck Benson with last year's 56-53 defensive grind being the first for C-N since 2010-11. C-N has been held to 60 points or less in four of its last five visits to the Shu. C-N hasn't shot better than 44 percent from the field at Lenoir-Rhyne under Benson.
The Eagles still have the nation's most efficient offense, shooting 52.8 percent from the field. Carson-Newman shot 64 percent from the field in the first meeting between the two clubs back on Dec. 19.
"We need to be really efficient offensively and take care of the basketball while making things tough defensively," Benson said. "We've got a tough five-game stretch. I like the way our team has responded in spite of all the adversity they've faced this season. We're sitting in a pretty good spot going down the stretch, and I have confidence in our ability to respond heading down to these final games of the regular season.
Carson-Newman and Lenoir-Rhyne tip at 4 p.m. Saturday. Pregame coverage on the Eagle Sports Network starts at 3:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mountain Country 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
