BRISTOL, Tenn. – Carson-Newman men's basketball (1-1) took an early lead and never surrendered it defeating King University (0-2), 86-74 Saturday evening inside the Student Center Complex.
"The defense set the tone," Carson-Newman head coach Chuck Benson said. "What I'm most proud of is our response to our opening night loss. I thought we responded well, and I was really pleased with how our guys brought it tonight. The tone was set with our defense early in the first half and I'm happy with our performance.
C-N came out firing early scoring the first eleven points of the game. The Eagles defense did not allow King to score for the first 6:53 before a Jordan Akal layup got the Tornado on the board.
Benson's team led 21-13 at the 9-minute mark and began to create separation on the Tornado over the next seven minutes of game. C-N went on a 12-2 run, with five different players scoring in the run to take its largest lead of the opening half at 33-15. King scored five of the next seven points to trail by fourteen at the break.
To open the second half, King began to chip into the lead, getting it down to eight, multiple times in the first few minutes. Halfway through the second half, C-N went on another run. The Eagles went on a 10-2 run, capped off by layups from sophomores John Zhao (Sevierville, Tenn.) and Monty Johal (Springfield, Mo.) to increase the lead to 20.
The Tornado responded by scoring 14 of the next 18 points to draw back within eight points with 4:36 left in the contest. After a mid-range jump shot from senior Luke Brenegan (Greenvile, S.C), King's Darron Howard answer with a three-pointer to bring King within seven. That would be the closest the C-N lead would get.
In a 2:30 minute span down the stretch, sophomore Ren Dyer (Weaverville, N.C) scored nine of the team's next ten points to help hold off the Tornado and win 86-74.
"We have one of those teams that has a lot of balance," Dyer said. "The defense gave me the opportunity to finish strong and that's what I was able to do."
Dyer led all scorers with a game-high 21 points and 12 rebounds. He matches his career high with the 21-point effort.
"He made his presence felt in the first half when he grabbed 10 rebounds," Coach Benson said. "Just his physicality and toughness was on full display. I'm not surprised, he's that type of guy and his energy and attitude are contagious. He is the catalyst for our team, when he is locked in and bringing it, it inspires others, including our staff. He is a heck of a performer and I'm so glad to have him in that uniform."
Senior Bryant Thomas (Charlotte, N.C) followed up a career performance in the season opener, with 20 points on seven for eleven shooting from the field. He begins the season with back-to-back 20-point performances.
Johal scored 12 points on an efficient 50 percent shooting. Zhao was C-N's fourth double-digit scorer, as he also shot 50 percent from the field to score 10 points. He made two of C-N's five three-point field goals.
In his first action with C-N, sophomore forward Ben Beeker (Hendersonville, N.C) pitched in with seven points off the bench, with five of those seven points coming from the free throw line.
C-N shot 43.5 percent from the field compared to a 40 percent for King. The Eagles were sharp from the charity stripe, going 27-32 (84.4%) as a team.
The Eagles controlled the paint all evening, outrebounded the Tornado 43-34 and 17-13 on the offensive glass. C-N also outscored King 42-26 in points in the paint.
Carson-Newman gets a week off before welcoming Southern Wesleyan to Holt Fieldhouse for the Eagles' home opener next Saturday (Nov. 19) at 2:00 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network starts at 1:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff online at cneagles.com/live.
