VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview
GAFFNEY, S.C. – Carson-Newman (20-7, 13-6 South Atlantic Conference) rallied from a nine-point second half deficit to grab a lead, but Limestone (12-15, 8-10 SAC) tallied a 10-2 run with four minutes remaining to take control and tally a 79-72 win on the Saints senior day Saturday in the Timken Center.
The win gives the Saints a sweep of the season series with the Eagles.
Turnovers proved costly in the loss. C-N coughed it up 18 times, compared to just six for the Saints. Limestone had a 14-8 edge in points off turnovers. The majority of the Eagles' giveways were self-inflicted. Limestone only had six steals.
"I do want to give kudos to Limestone, this was a big day for them for their senior day and I felt like they did a nice job," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "On the flip of that, it was frustrating our inability to control the things that we spend a lot of time going over. There are certain scout-based, preparation-based things that we can control that we did not do time and time again today. We did not control them to the level we needed to. That's frustrating. When we do not control the things that are controllable, we put ourselves behind the eight ball."
Carson-Newman failed to score during a seven-minute stretch spanning the halftime break. Limestone took advantage, using an 11-0 run during that span to take a nine-point lead early in the second half.
C-N responded with a 9-0 burst of its own to take a 53-52 lead with 13 minutes to play after back-to-back fast break layups by Ben Beeker (Hendersonville, N.C.) and Jack Browder (Kingsport, Tenn.).
After the 9-0 run, Carson-Newman held Limestone without points for four minutes, but could only muster a 6-0 run and a four-point lead. C-N would join the Saints in the doldrums for the final three minutes of the Saints' swoon with a scoring drought of their own.
The inability to extend the lead during that stretch would prove costly. The teams traded buckets for the next five minutes until the Saints utilized a 10-2 run to seize control of the game. Limetone took the lead for good with 3:20 to go following two Zeb Graham free throws.
"Victory favors the team making the fewest mistakes," Benson said. "In six of our seven losses, we have just flat out made more mistakes than our opponents."
Carson-Newman had oodles of looks at the basket in the final four minutes, but was 1-of-6 on layups, all of which came with contact.
"I thought that we had a number of shots tonight that I would think that we are capable of making," Benson said. "We have to realize at the end of the year, that how games are officiated changes as the year goes along. It's different before Christmas, after Christmas and in February. Our guys demonstrated a lack of poise when the whistle wasn't going in their favor. In the month of February, you have to be mentally tough and not play for fouls. I thought we struggled at times with that, especially late in the game."
John Zhao (Sevierville, Tenn.) led Carson-Newmanwith 20 points. He was 9-of-17 from the field.
Trey Hubbard (Charlotte, N.C.) added in his third career double-double, but his first with points and rebounds. He had 15 and a career-best 10 rebounds. Browder and Beeker rounded out the Eagles' double-digit scorers with 14 and 11, respectively.
The Saints finished with five double-digit scorers, led by Graham's 17. Greg McKay and Jaquez Yow followed with 16, apiece, while Trevor Payton and Sirr Hughes had 13 and 10, respectively.
Carson-Newman shot 43.5 percent from the field for the game, but 50 percent after halftime. The Eagles were just 7-of-22 from deep.
Limestone made 11-of-35 threes (31.4 percent) and 42.9 percent of its shots.
The Eagles owned a 49-37 edge on the glass, and outscored Limestone 15-11 in second chance points.
Carson-Newman breaks for a week before taking on Mars Hill for senior day on Saturday March 2. Tipoff with the Lions is scheduled for 4 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. A video stream is available with a subscription to FloSports at cneagles.com/FloMBB.
