VIDEO: Luke Brenegan Interview
GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – Despite shooting its second-best percentage from the field in a conference game this season, Carson-Newman men's basketball (11-14, 5-10) was unable to overcome 18 turnovers falling to Tusculum (12-10, 8-7) Wednesday evening, falling 78-69.
C-N's 52% shooting from the field was its highest mark in a conference game since shooting 54% in a road win over Limestone back on December 7th this season.
The Eagles turned it over at least 18 times for a fourth consecutive game and a fifth time in seven contests. Tusculum scored 27 points off the C-N miscues, while C-N managed just nine points off the Pioneers seven turnovers.
Carson-Newman has 44 more turnovers than its opponents in its last four games and has been outscored by 65 points off those giveaways.
"We shot the ball effectively, outrebounded them, had more three-point makes than them, all of which are positives," Carson-Newman head coach Chuck Benson said. "We responded to some adversity better, we showed some resiliency when they punched back which I told them at halftime would happen. The glaring and I mean glaring problem again is turnovers. 18 turnovers and 27 points off the turnovers, we aren't going to win when that's the case."
Tusculum made four of its first five shot attempts to jump out to a 10-2 lead. C-N responded with a 7-0 scoring run to draw within one after the first five minutes.
The Eagles first lead of the night came on a 19-foot Ren Dyer (Weaverville, N.C.) jump shot at the 13:05 mark of the opening half to put C-N up 13-12.
C-N's defense became stingy after the hot shooting start from the Pioneers. TU went two of its next 11 from the field, allowing C-N to grow its lead to six at 22-16 with 6:37 left in the opening half.
The biggest lead of the first half for the Eagles came after a Luke Brenegan (Greenville, S.C) three-pointer to grow the lead out to nine, at 27-18. TU responded by ending the first half on a 15-4 scoring run and led by two at halftime.
The Pioneers increased the lead to six early in the second half, forcing three C-N turnovers in less than 90 seconds and scoring off the Eagles miscues.
Three consecutive baskets by Tyler Bowens (Greenville, S.C.) brought C-N within two points, forcing a TU timeout with 12:54 left. C-N cut the TU lead to one possession multiple times in the next six minutes, but could not tie or take the lead. Despite defensive stops, C-N managed to make just one of its next seven shot attempts during this stretch. TU entered the final media timeout ahead 61-57.
Right out of the media timeout, TU's Inady Legiste scored five straight points to grow the Pioneers lead to nine, 66-57. Bryant Thomas (Charlotte, N.C) was finally able to end the field goal drought for C-N with a jump hook in the lane with 2:42 left in the contest. After two TU free throws, Luke Brenegan nailed a triple from the top of the key to bring the Eagles back within six with exactly two minutes left.
C-N did not manage to get any closer in the final minutes, dropping its sixth straight contest and sixth straight against the Pioneers.
The Brenegan brothers tied for the team lead in scoring, with 12 points each. Seven different Eagles scored eight points or more.
Jack Browder (Kingsport, Tenn.) and John Zhao (Sevierville, Tenn.) each grabbed a team-high six rebounds in defeat.
Connor Jordan led Tusculum in scoring with 17 points on five of twelve shooting. Three other Pioneers scored in double figures.
Carson-Newman will try to get in the win column on Saturday at Wingate. Tipoff against the Pioneers is set for 4:00 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 3:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mountain Talk 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
