VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview
GREENWOOD, S.C. – Carson-Newman (3-1) shot a season-low 35.5 percent from the field, but saw a second-half rally come up short at Lander (4-1) in an 81-72 decision favoring the Bearcats Saturday afternoon at Finis Horne Arena.
Carson-Newman struggled to score in the first half, making just 23.3 percent of its shots. Then, when business picked up offensively in the second half, the Eagles struggled to get stops on Lander. Carson-Newman shot better than 54 percent for much of the second half, but Lander connected on 56.7 percent of its shots after halftime and 6-of-12 threes.
"Credit Lander," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "(Lander head coach) Omar's (Wattad) in his fourth year there, and we go way way back. He's done a good job. We had some specific goals in mind, and a lot of those goals we met. But if you look at what transpired in the second half, they had players who went and made very difficult plays. That's what happened for them offensively."
Carson-Newman outrebounded the Bearcats 44-36, got to the free throw line nine more times than Lander and made eight more free throws, and only turned over the ball nine times – a season low. However, in the face of the Bearcats 47.5 percent shooting, those numbers mattered little.
"There's a recipe for winning on the road," Benson said. "Outrebound your opponent. We did. Get to the line more than your opponent. We did. Take care of the basketball. We did with single digit turnovers. There's one thing that can trump that – elite shotmaking. Credit them, they made some very difficult shots and some difficult and ones."
The Bearcats led by eight, 32-24, at the break before building the lead out to 12 multiple times in the second half. C-N scored seven straight to get within five with 3:41 to play. The bulk of the work came at the free throw line. A Trey Hubbard (Charlotte, N.C.) and-one layup sparked the spurt. However, a Dominic Stanford and-one quelched the rally before the Bearcats set the final margin with a 5-0 run to close the game at the charity stripe.
"The hardest thing to do in this game is to make ISO plays against set defense," Benson said. "We had set defense a lot of the time. They were able to capitalize in those one-on-one scenarios. As frustrating as the outcome is, the effort and care were at high levels, and there were some lessons, both positive and negative that will help shape us moving forward."
The loss obfuscated Hubbard's sublime nature after halftime. The Queens transfer scored 19 points in the final 20 minutes to finish with a career-high 21. He also added in five boards and dolled out three assists.
He was 8-of-18 from the field, 1-of-3 from beyond the arc and 4-of-5 at the line.
"I am Trey's third head coach in three years and his second school in there years," Benson said. "He's getting more comfortable. I know that Trey is in love with basketball. I know that he will only become more comfortable and aware of what it is that I prefer. He missed out on the entire preseason with an ankle injury. He's catching up and I like where his heart is. The future is bright for him and us, collectively."
Nick Brenegan (Greenville, S.C.) was the Eagles only other double-digit scorer. He finished with 12 points, going 3-of-9 from the field and 2-of-4 from three.
Stanford paced Lander with 20 points and eight boards. He was efficient, making 8-of-10 shots. Torrin Andrews chipped in 16 points, while Noah Dunn and Ajang Aguek each had 11.
Carson-Newman faces a quick turnaround, tipping off with Milligan in an old VSAC matchup at 7 p.m. from Holt Fieldhouse. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 6:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mountain Talk 106. (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
