VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson debuted the defending SAC tournament champions' 2015-16 schedule Saturday afternoon and Eagle fans will have 16 chances to see the Eagles within the confines of Holt Fieldhouse.

"Having 16 home games is a major plus," Benson said. "I like the fact that we get to play here in Holt so much. I think that gives us a little bit of an edge because we have great home court advantage with our fan base."

The Eagles open up the season Nov. 13, playing host to the Carson-Newman Classic.  The Eagles start play that Friday night with Southern Wesleyan before playing Lander Saturday evening. 

A third straight home game to start the year brings Johnson C. Smith to Holt Fieldhouse Nov. 18 before the Eagles play their first and only nonconference road game of the season.  Carson-Newman will travel to face USC Aiken Nov. 21 after beating the Pacers by 22 last year in Holt Fieldhouse.

The meeting with the Pacers, a team two years removed from an NCAA Final Four appearance, leads into the Eagles' first SAC matchup of the season. 

"A lot of our nonconference schedule is contractually obligated," Benson said. "We were on the road a lot last year and really challenged our kids. Now we get that payback. We get to host all those teams.  I believe there is some familiarity with our returning players, it puts a little more excitement and purpose to those nonconference games we get to host."

Carson-Newman will go toe-to-toe with the team it beat to win the 2015 SAC tournament championship – Lincoln Memorial.  The meeting with the perennially-top-25 ranked Railsplitters will be the first time Carson-Newman has collided with its rivals from Harrogate prior to Christmas since the 2009-10 season when LMU eked out a 70-67 win over the Eagles on Dec. 5 that season. 

The matchup will take place in Harrogate, Tenn. at Tex Turner Arena, where Carson-Newman ended LMU's 20-game win streak and knocked LMU from the top spot in the NABC Coaches Poll last year. 

"It's interesting because this past season, we played our two regular season games with LMU in the month of February," Benson said. "To play them in our conference opener on the road right out of the gate, is really a challenge. There will be a lot of hype for this game with what happened between us last year and with the nature of both of our teams.  Hopefully we can go in there and play at a high level, but only time will tell."

After the meeting with LMU, the Eagles return home for three straight games. Clayton State returns the trip the Eagles paid to Atlanta last year before Newberry comes to town Dec. 5.  A matchup Dec. 9 with Limestone, a team two years removed from an NCAA tournament berth, closes out Carson-Newman's nonconference schedule. 

Carson-Newman is never on the road for more than two straight games the rest of the year.  The Eagles have a prominent homestand between January and February.  Meetings with LMU and Queens as well as Catawba and Anderson sandwich a road date with Mars Hill.

The Eagles face Tusculum and Wingate back-to-back Feb. 17 and 20 to close out the home side of the schedule.  The Eagles' final two games of the regular season are on the road at Brevard and Coker Feb. 24 and 27, respectively.

The entirety of Carson-Newman's 2015-16 schedule will be broadcast on the Eagle Sports Network on Mountain Country 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.