VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview
VIDEO: Highlights
VIDEO: Camden McElhaney Interview
VIDEO: Bryce Weinmunson Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Saturday afternoon in Holt Fieldhouse, Carson-Newman (15-4, 8-3 South Atlantic Conference) turned into a feral mongoose.
The natural predator of Cobras, C-N de-fanged Coker (11-8, 7-4 SAC) with a comprehensive 120-81 win in a matchup of two teams tied for third place in the league standings.
C-N held Coker, the owners of the league's highest scoring offense, to its worst shooting night of the season and the second-fewest points its scored. The Cobras, who were riding a six-game streak where they had scored at least 100 points and shot 50 percent from the field, were limited to 33.3 percent shooting from the field, and an 8-of-33 effort (24.2 percent) from long range.
"It all makes sense, the son of Frosty Holt, Dr. Joe Holt was in the building tonight," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "I am impressed. I thought our defense was locked in for 40 minutes. It generated offense for us. I thought our guys showed great poise against their pressure and extension, and man were there some electric moments. If I am a fan here tonight, I got my money's worth. That was just a fun game."
Carson-Newman scored 120 points for the 24th time in school history while cresting the century mark for a 10th game this season. It marks the first time since 1987-88 and the sixth time in school history the Eagles have had double-digit 100-point performances in a single-season all-time.
The Eagles got there with a record-book impacting offensive performance. Carson-Newman shot 67.2 percent from the field, the third-best mark in school history.
"The majority of our shots were assisted," Benson said. "And that allows for a better shot opportunity. I always say it, and I can't change the storyline, they work hard at making shots. They step up and do their jobs come game time."
Meanwhile, the Eagles broke the single-game record for assists with 35. Carson-Newman assisted on all but eight of their made baskets.
Ousmane Dia (Dakar, Senegal), Jarius Satterfield (Charlotte, N.C.) and Ben Beeker (Hendersonville, N.C.) all led the team with five assists. Of the 13 Eagles who saw the floor in the game, 12 had at least one assist. Eight had multiple assists.
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— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) January 28, 2024
✅ School record 35 assists
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"We really make a big deal of certain values that we hold dear," Benson said. "Trust is one of those. We continue to emphasize that and ingrain that belief in them. Being trustworthy is one of those. Our guys are trustworthy in the broadest contest, but it's applicable to the game as well. You just know when you get to see something good, and we are certainly getting to sit back and see some good stuff now."
Carson-Newman was on one from the jump. Somewhat surprisingly, C-N only had one run of 8-0 or greater in the game. Instead, it was the irresistible force overwhelming a moving object. Leading 6-5 2:01 into the game, Carson-Newman would outscore Coker 31-8 over the next eight minutes to grab a 23-point lead. With the exception of a Trey Hubbard (Charlotte, N.C.) fast break three and six free throws, Carson-Newman would get every other point in the spurt at the rim.
After Coker used a 10-2 run to get the deficit down to 15 with 5:52 to play in the half, Carson-Newman responded by outscoring the Cobras 28-14 down the stretch to carry a 67-38 lead into the break.
Ren Dyer (Weaverville, N.C.) put an exclamation point on the first half with an alleyoop slam from Satterfield at the horn.
�� SPEECHLESS �� @Rendyer2000 @CN_Hoops x #talonsup
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) January 28, 2024
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"Our guys were just committed today," Benson said. "At no point did I feel like Coker got comfortable tonight. We made it difficult. And they can get comfortable. Michael Lamberti has done a great job with them in year one. They have some high-quality wins and we knew it would be a challenge defensively. However, we have some veteran dudes, say whatever you want, they were ready to compete tonight."
Coker would get no closer than 25 in the second half. Coker didn't make a shot from the field over the final 5:23 of the game once the Eagles' had fully subbed their second unit onto the floor.
Part of the Eagles' defensive intensity came from how it impacted Coker's stars. Andre Leavell was leading the league and scoring, while Mahmoud Bangura was averaging 17.2 per game. The duo is one of 11 in Division II averaging 17 or more for one team. The pair was combining for 38.4 a night. C-N held them to eight. Leavell had three points on 1-of-10 shooting. Bangura had five and was 1-for-7 from the field.
"Our guys did not lose interest," Benson said. "When you get up big, you can easily lose interest. They really didn't. A tone was set that first half. But games are won in the second half. What wins is performance, not reputation. We continued to do the job the way we did it the first half. We took the punches they threw after halftime and returned fire. To add to that, when we made our final substitution, we stretched the lead, which I loved that degree of intensity from that second unit."
John Zhao (Sevierville, Tenn.) paced Carson-Newman with 26 points. He was a hyper-efficient 11-of-14 from the floor while grabbing seven boards.
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— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) January 27, 2024
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Jack Browder (Kingsport, Tenn.) turned in his sixth straight 20-point performance. He was 6-of-9 form the field and 3-for-4 from deep.
Hubbard added in 16, while Nick Brenegan (Greenville, S.C.) had 15. Brenegan, the country's leader in threes made, only hit one triple, the second time this year he's only nailed one.
Bryce Weinmunson (Ponchatoula, La.) matched his career high with 11 points in 10 minutes. He was 4-of-5 from the field.
Demar Anderson led Coker with 22 points. Glenn Bynum added 15, while Hayden Abdullah had 11.
Carson-Newman turned it over a season-high 20 times, but negated that by turning 10 of Coker's 11 turnovers into points. The Eagles had a 20-9 advantage in points off turnovers. The Cobras had 12 steals.
C-N outscored the Cobras 62-20 in the paint and 38-2 on the fast break.
C-N stays at home Wednesday night to face archrival Lincoln Memorial. Tipoff with the Railsplitters is set for 7:30 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins 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 at cneagles.com/FloMBB.
