VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview
VIDEO: Josh Rogers Interview
VIDEO: Sawyer Williams Interview
ANDERSON, S.C. – Carson-Newman (10-7, 6-5 South Atlantic Conference) bolted out of the gates on 25-6 run then withstood a second half rally to stiff-arm Anderson (5-12, 3-8 SAC) Thursday night at the Abney Center.
The win at Anderson is the first for C-N since the 2010-11 season when the Eagles beat an Elite Eight-bound Trojan club 75-71 at their facility.
"This is a really good road win, one that I'm particularly proud of for our team," head coach Chuck Benson said. "This is a tough place to play, our seniors had never won here. I'm especially happy for Josh (Rogers) and Carson (Brooks) to get a win in this building in their careers."
The Eagles connected on eight of their first 13 shot attempts while the Trojans only hit two of their first 14 field goal attempts as the Eagles built a 25-6 lead through the game's first 10 minutes.
Mason Bates (Cookeville, Tenn.) dropped a two-handed alley slam from Charles Clark (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) and also rammed down a double-fisted dunk off a v-cut feed from Josh Rogers (Bristol, United Kingdom) to highlight the run.
The Eagles took a 38-22 lead into the break after holding AU to 29.6 shooting for the first half.
However, Anderson would not be blown out.
"We've seen this happen a bunch this year where we have great first halves then the opponent comes out in the second half a bit more relaxed and starts hitting shots," head coach Chuck Benson said. "We challenged our guys to prevent that the second half and I don't think we responded to that challenge and the second half turned into a much more contested game than the first half."
The Trojans slowly but surely chipped away at the Eagles advantage as C-N's shooting cooled to 40 percent for the second half.
Anderson got as close as seven, 60-53 with 2:27 left in the game following a Lex Davis layup. Clark then drilled a three and connected on a free throw to push the lead back past 10.
The margin of victory could have been greater for the Eagles, but C-N suffered through its worst free-throw shooting performance of the year.
The Eagles were second in the league in free throw percentage (76 percent) coming into the game, but only managed to convert on 16-of-30 (53.3 percent) attempts on the night, including 6-for-11 in the final five minutes of the game.
"I have zero explanation for that," Benson said. "I don't know there's a team in this league that shoots more free throws than we do. For 85 percent shooters at the line to miss what they did is stunning. We won't change anything, just have to get more reps."
Clark led C-N with 23 points while Carson Brooks (Knoxville, Tenn.) added 14. Rogers and Sawyer Williams (Owenton, Ky.) both had double-digit rebounds. Rogers had 10 and Williams a career-high matching 13.
Anderson saw 69 percent of its scoring come from two players. Randall Shaw and Tre' Fields combined for 41 points. Shaw tallied 21 and Fields 20.
The 59 points AU scored are the fewest the Eagles have allowed this season.
Carson-Newman now gears up for a second straight game in the Palmetto State. C-N heads to Eleazer Arena to battle Newberry Saturday at 4. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 3:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mountain Country 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
