VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview
VIDEO: Highlights
VIDEO: Jack Browder Interview
ROCK HILL, S.C. – Fourth-seeded Carson-Newman (22-7) got 18 second-half points from third team All-SAC forward Jack Browder (Kingsport, Tenn.) and held Tusculum (14-13) to 33 percent shooting after halftime en route to a 68-60 win the South Atlantic Conference tournament quarterfinals Wednesday evening at the Rock Hill Sports and Events Center.
The wins moves C-N along to the semifinals of the conference tournament where the Eagles will take on Lincoln Memorial Thursday at 5 p.m.
"Credit to our guys for a really good week of preparation going into this tournament," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "I'm really proud of our guys and pleased with their performance, especially on the defensive side of the ball. I thought rebounding was another big part of that. In 28 regular season games, there was one team that outrebounded us, and that was Tusculum when we played them back in December, but today, we were able to flip that. Of course, we had to put the ball in the basket, and we were able to do that a little bit too."
Carson-Newman and Tusculum were deadlocked at 29 heading into the halftime break. However, C-N seized control of the game with a 10-0 run to open the second half. It was primarily Browder who sparked the surge. He started the run with back-to-back twisting post up buckets before a corner three stretched the edge to eight. John Zhao (Sevierville, Tenn.) capped the burst with a swooping layup to put the Eagles in front 39-29 four minutes into the half. C-N held the Pioneers without a point for the first four minutes of the second half.
Tusculum answered multiple times in the second half, using 7-0 or 5-0 runs to whittle the deficit down to as little as five. However, each time the Pioneers drew that close, C-N counterpunched. The Eagles used a 7-0 and an 8-0 run later in the half to stretch the lead back to double digits after the Pioneers had cut it to two possessions.
Tusculum was able to trim the deficit in half, from game-high 14 down to seven 64-57 with 96 seconds left after a Connor Jordan layup. However, C-N canned six free throws down the stretch to ice the game. C-N didn't make a shot from the field in the final 4:40 of the contest. It marked the first time this season Carson-Newman has won a game when scoring fewer than 70 points. Granted, this was just the third time this year C-N, the SAC's second-highest scoring team, was kept below 70.
"Our guys felt that in the second half, there were going to be some opportunities that were going to come our way based on the way that Tusculum was defending us," Benson said. "We had to recognize those and communicate effectively in real-time on the court and then try to take advantage of those opportunities when we recognized them. I thought early in the second half, in particular, that was happening. Our guys, Jack, in particular, did a good job realizing that we might have an advantage, so let's try to exploit it."
A defensive slugfest to move on to the @SAC_Athletics semis @JackBrowder3 goes for his 11th double-double of the year @CN_Hoops x #TalonsUp pic.twitter.com/wbDlx8BBxM
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) March 7, 2024
Browder finished with a game-high 20 points to go along with a career-high matching 12 rebounds for his 11th double-double of the season.
He was 1-for-5 with two points in the first half before exploding to go 7-of-11 from the field after halftime.
"We tried to make sure we were being smart when we were getting downhill, using fakes and keeping our dribble alive," Browder said. "That's what coach said to do, so we trusted it and executed it well in the end."
Zhao and Nick Brenegan (Greenville, S.C.), the Eagles other two all-league laureates, were the only other two C-N players in double figures. Zhao poured in an efficient 16. He was 6-for-10 from the field and 4-of-5 from three. Brenegan chipped in 12, going 4-of-12 from the field and 1-of-5 from deep.
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— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) March 7, 2024
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C-N did not shoot volume from deep, but the Eagles were effective when they launched from range. Carson-Newman canned 8-of-14 threes to shoot 57.1 percent from beyond the arc. C-N shot 42.4 percent from the field for the game, but 48.1 percent after halftime.
Meanwhile, C-N held Tusculum to 34.9 percent shooting for the game. That's the third-lowest percentage by a C-N opponent this season.
Four Tusculum players had double digits, led by Jordan's 12. After resetting his career high with 29 in TU's win over C-N in Holt Fieldhouse, Jordan was just 4-of-14 from the field.
Josiah Morris had 11, he was 3-for-4 from the field and 2-for-3 deep. Jacob Hobbs and KJ Crump both added in 10.
3️⃣ ball for Trey
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) March 6, 2024
.@TreyHubbard_ knocks down his first triple as the Eagles push the lead to 12, heading into the under-12 MTO!
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11:21 2nd half
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Carson-Newman and Lincoln Memorial square off for the third time this season when they tip at 5 p.m. Thursday in the semifinals of the SAC tournament. Pregame coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 4:45 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 through FloSports at cneagles.com/FloMBB.
