VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – There are so many reasons why Carson-Newman's (13-4, 6-3 South Atlantic Conference) 84-83 loss to league-leading Wingate (14-3, 9-0 SAC) Saturday afternoon in Cuddy Arena is an absolute punch to the stomach.
First, Donnell Nixon canned a step-back three with a hand in his face with 2.4 seconds remaining to set the final margin at 84-83 and cap a Wingate rally. The Bulldogs had trailed by 19 in the first half and as many as 13 after halftime.
However, it was what happened next that could really knock the air out of you. On the ensuing full-court inbounds, Jack Browder (Kingsport, Tenn.) caught a pass from Ren Dyer (Weaverville, N.C.) along the near sideline, turned and banked in a half court heave with 1.1 seconds left.
Except it wasn't. C-N head coach Chuck Benson did the sane thing and had instructed the officials to call a timeout as soon as C-N controlled the inbounds at halfcourt. Head referee Leo Lockhart appropriately called the timeout and waived the basket off. C-N still had one more crack at the win, but a backdoor lob for Browder came up empty.
"There's a lot of things you wish you could do over today," Benson said. "We strategized the play to get to halfcourt and call a timeout to set something up closer to the basket with two seconds left. It's the right call. I'd call that timeout every time to play the percentages. But mercy."
Carson-Newman led by 19 with 8:00 to go in the first half after a pair of 9-0 runs. Wingate utilized an 8-0 run while C-N went four minutes without points to get the deficit down to nine by halftime, 47-38. The loss is Carson-Newman's first this season when leading at the halftime break and its first in three years when leading with under five minutes to go a game.
It wasn't a big run in the second half for the Bulldogs to get back in it. However, C-N went from eight-minute mark of the second half to the 90 second mark without a field goal. Wingate slowly worked through a 9-0 run to get within one, 78-77 after a Kendall Taylor jumper.
"A 100 percent credit to Wingate," Benson said. "They are good. They are tough physically and mentally. They stay with their script, which puts a lot of pressure on the paint. They clearly aren't hunting threes, but when push came to shove, they made six of them. That's a credit to them, but I'm disappointed with our defense. Our rebounding was fine, but our lack of toughness today was exposed. We had too many breakdowns in our matchups and personnel. Credit to them. You can't do those things on the road and win."
Trey Hubbard (Charlotte, N.C.) answered with a three with 90 seconds left to give the Eagles a four-point lead. The Bulldogs scored the next four to knot the game at 81 with 38 seconds left following two Taylor Bell free throws.
C-N responded with a twisting Ben Beeker (Weaverville, N.C.) layup as the shot-clock was cutting to one to put the Eagles ahead 83-81 and set the stage for Nixon's theatrics.
Hubbard poured in a career-high 27 for the Eagles. He was 10-of-16 from the field and 3-of-5 from three. However, he only played 24 minutes after picking up a third foul on the final play of the first half and a fourth in the first three minutes of the second.
Carson-Newman was +15 with him on the floor, -16 with him off it.
"There's no question Trey not being on the floor impacted things," Benson said. "I've always had that fast firm rule that you don't play guys with two fouls in the first half. That's one me. We tried to get him out of the game on Wingate's final possession of the first half, but couldn't get a timeout. When he picked up his third, it was disappointing cause he had to sit a long time in the second half."
Browder turned in a fourth straight 20-point night with 22. He was 9-of-19 from the floor, but 2-of-8 from deep.
Nick Brenegan (Greenville, S.C.) rounded out the Eagles' double-digit scorers with 13.
Josh Massey led Wingate with 23 on 10-of-21 shooting. He was 3-for-5 from range. Taylor added in 22. Vontrez Roberts had 15, while Nixon scored 13.
C-N outrebounded the Bulldogs 38-25, a fifth straight game where the Eagles have outrebounded their opposition by double-digits. However, Wingate neutralized that advantage by getting to the free throw line 17 times and making 14 of them. Comparatively, C-N was 7-for-8 at the stripe and just 3-for-3 after halftime.
The Bulldogs shot 53.3 percent from the field for the game and went 18-of-30 (60 percent) in the second half. Included in that were six made threes on eight attempts after going 0-for-5 in the first half.
C-N shot 49.3 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from deep on 10-of-26 shooting.
The win is a 10th consecutive for the Bulldogs and stops a string of back-to-back losses to the Eagles in Cuddy Arena. Both of Wingate's last two wins over C-N have been by a bucket in the final seconds.
Carson-Newman stays on the road Wednesday at Emory & Henry. Tipoff from the King Center is set for 5:30 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network starts at 5:15 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mountain Talk 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
