VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview
VIDEO: Trey Hubbard Interview
HICKORY, N.C. – Down two starters, and playing lineups that had never seen the floor together this season, Carson-Newman (12-3, 5-2 South Atlantic Conference) put together a stellar second half to rally from a halftime deficit all season with a 72-63 win over Lenoir-Rhyne (9-7, 4-4 SAC) Saturday afternoon at Shuford Arena.
The win is the sixth straight for Carson-Newman in its series with the Bears. Neither Carson-Newman nor Lenoir-Rhyne had won six straight games in the previous 72 games in the series.
The Eagles were without the services of starting center Ousmane Dia (Dakar, Senegal) and the nation's top three-point shooter Nick Brenegan (Greenville, S.C.).
"It's one thing to lose two starters, it's another thing to lose the nation's best three-point shooter to food poisoning the morning of the game," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "I was almost excited to see what our response to adversity would be. I didn't like our first half response. But to say I loved our second half response would be an understatement."
Carson-Newman trailed by four at the break, 29-25, as it tried to find its offensive footing with lineups that had never seen the floor before this season. C-N made one shot in a seven-minute stretch late in the first half while LR rattled off a 17-4 scoring spurt to grab a nine-point lead.
However, C-N was able to close the period on a 5-0 burst to head into the halftime lockerroom down four. The win is Carson-Newman's first this season when trailing at the half. The Eagles had been 0-3 this year previously when down at the break.
The Eagles took over in the second half with rebounding. Carson-Newman didn't allow LR to have an offensive board after halftime, and outrebounded the Bears 26-6 in the second half. The glass crashing led to 11 fast break points after halftime. C-N was held scoreless in the category for the first half.
"The rebounding was incredible," Benson said. "To keep them off the offensive glass in the second half was incredible. We cut our turnovers down to three in the second half. That really helped us to get up and down. I was not a happy camper at halftime, but we walk out of here with smiles on our faces because of the way we played in the second half and the way we handled adversity."
A 13-3 run gave C-N the lead with 12:33 to play in the second half. Trey Hubbard (Charlotte, N.C.) and Jack Browder (Kingsport, Tenn.) keyed the spurt. Browder ignited it with a three and finished it with a fast break layup. That came around a Hubbard sandwich of back-to-back fast break buckets, a dunk and a scoop shot.
"It came from rebounding, but it also came from our defense effort," Hubbard said. "We only gave up one three, which helped us get in transition."
C-N took the lead for good with 8:40 to play on a John Zhao (Sevierville, Tenn.) three.
Hubbard helped spark C-N in the second half. All 16 of his points came after halftime. He made 6-of-12 shots from the field and all four of his free throws. He grabbed four rebounds and dished out a game-high six assists.
"Trey was a tale of two halves," Benson said. "The first half, he was a touch rattled. He had a ton of family here. At halftime, he settled down. He made better decisions in the half court and in transition while ramping up his defense."
Browder and Zhao both turned in 20-point nights, their sixth and eighth such performances, respectively.
Browder had 21 points and seven rebounds. He was 7-of-14 from the floor. Zhao had 22, connecting on 9-of-17 field goals and 3-of-9 threes.
C-N shot 48.1 percent from the field, the third-highest percentage allowed this year by the Bears, the SAC's leaders in scoring defense. C-N made 51.5 percent of its shots in the second half.
"They can defend at a high level," Benson said. "We struggled in the first half to find the variety of score types against them. But once our defense and rebounding got right, we were able to find a better flow offensively."
The Eagles outrebounded LR 41-21 for the game. It registers as third game this season the Eagles have outrebounded their opposition by 20.
Jaquias Franklin led LR with an efficient 21. He was 8-for-11 from the field and 3-of-6 from three. He had made five threes all season coming into the game.
Nas Tyson added in 14, going 4-of-11 from the field.
Carson-Newman returns home Wednesday to take on UVA Wise at 7:30 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network starts at 7:15 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mountain Talk 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. A video stream is available with a subscription to FloSports.
