GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — Senior forward Tray Okoth (Richmond, Va.) fired in a career-high 25 points to lead Carson-Newman to a 76-69 victory over Tusculum in the first round of the 2010 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament on Wednesday night at Pioneer Arena.

With the win, the seventh-seeded Eagles (11-17) advance to Saturday’s semifinals, where they will face third-seeded Brevard at 2:30 p.m. at Catawba Valley Community College in Hickory, N.C. The second-seeded Pioneers fall to 16-12.

Okoth went 9-of-13 from the floor, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range, to lead C-N. As a team, the Eagles shot 51 percent (23-of-45) from the field.

Sophomore guard Cameron Sharp (Knoxville, Tenn.) tossed in 18 points for the Eagles, while seniors Jordan Dixon (Clinton, Tenn.) and Darron Maxtion (Huntsville, Ala.) added 15 and 14 points, respectively, in the win.

Kyle Moore (Gainesville, Fla.) netted 21 points, including five 3-pointers, to lead Tusculum. Josh Bennett (Snow Hill, Md.) tallied 18 points in the loss.

The Eagles led for most of the first half, but a Jimmy Boone (Greeneville, Tenn.) 3-pointer tied the game at 28 with 4:09 remaining. However, C-N closed out the half on a 10-2 run capped off by a Dixon 3-pointer that gave the Eagles a 38-30 lead at the break.

C-N pushed its lead to as many as 15 points in the second half, as Okoth sank a jumper at the 7:06 mark to give the Eagles a 60-45 advantage.

The Pioneers scrapped back and were able to trim C-N’s lead down to four points on a made Boone jumper with 1:26 left, but the Eagles went 14-of-16 at the free-throw line down the stretch to seal the win.