GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman Eagles (9-2, 2-1 South Atlantic Conference) men's basketball team defeated the Tusculum Pioneers (2-9, 1-2 South Atlantic Conference) by a score of 67-56 at Pioneer Arena on Wednesday night.

The Eagles were led in scoring by Antoine Davis (Rustburg, Va.) with his 17 points as the Eagles have won two straight against the rival Pioneers. Davis was joined in double figures by Ish Sanders (Cleveland, Tenn.), with his 16 points and  Cody Henegar (South Pittsburg, Tenn.) added 11 points and two three-pointers for Carson-Newman.

"Conference wins are always great, conference road wins are the best, so we got that done," said Carson-Newman head coach Chuck Benson. "However I'm not pleased with how we played, especially on the offensive side of the ball. I thought defensively we did some good things, we rebounded the ball well, but offensively I was really disappointed in our execution."

The Eagles and Pioneers played a low-scoring first half. Davis powered Carson-Newman on a 4-0 run in the final minute of the first half to give the Eagles a 25-22 lead going into the locker room. Davis led the Eagles and the game with eight points in the first 20 minutes.

The Eagles got off to a hot start in the second half. Carson-Newman opened the frame on a 9-7 run to lead 36-29 with 16:10 left to play in a run that was capped by a Henegar three-pointer. A Henegar three-pointer with 12:10 to go would jumpstart a 7-2 run for the Eagles that gave Carson-Newman a 51-40 lead with 8:58 to play.

Tusculum would respond, going on an 11-4 run to cut the lead to four points with 2:39 to play. The Eagles would then go on a 7-0 run thanks to a Sanders jumper, a Collin Crane layup, and a layup and foul bfor Sanders. After making his point-after shot, Carson-Newman had the game out of reach, ahead 62-51 with 1:30 to play.

The Eagles held strong in the final minute and a half to finish the game with an 11-point victory, improving Carson-Newman to 2-1 in conference play.

After shooting 30 percent from the field in the first half, the Eagles responded by shooting 48 percent in the second half to shoot 40 percent overall in the game. The Eagles had the rebound advantage 38-28 and Carson-Newman also scored 38 points in the paint.  Tusculum was led in scoring by Keith Jumper with his game-high 20 points and Nick Spinks who added 16 points and hit four three-pointers for the Pioneers. 

The Eagles will next play on Saturday Jan. 12 at home against Newberry at Holt Fieldhouse at 4 p.m.  Fans can listen to the contest on the Coca-Cola Eagle Sports Network beginning at 3:45 p.m. with the Farm Bureau Countdown to Tipoff on 106.3 ESPN Radio The Zone (WPFT-FM, Sevierville).