VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview
VIDEO: Charles Clark Interview
VIDEO: Carson-Newman's bonkers buzzer-beating three to force OT
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (14-11, 10-9 South Atlantic Conference) intentionally missed a free throw and drained a three to force overtime, but Tusculum (11-13, 7-13 SAC) closed the game on a 16-5 run to down Carson-Newman 108-100 in overtime Wednesday night at Holt Fieldhouse.
"Obviously this loss is very hurtful to our players, to our institution and I take that very seriously," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "Tusculum gets complete credit for its performance tonight.
"I've obviously done a bad job with this team on some level because our ability to defend has been pretty solid the last four years. But the way teams have shot the ball collectively on us this season is mind-numbing. We're talking about a Tusculum team that I would not typify as an elite shooting team. Tonight though, they made long shots for 40 minutes, that's to their credit. I liked our kids' determination and never-say-die approach. They fought and fought, but it wasn't enough."
Carson-Newman trailed by 12 in the second half before using a 7-0 to get within a point with 43 seconds left in regulation on a Charles Clark (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) and-one layup.
However, Carson-Newman couldn't get another bucket to drop and Tusculum made a trio of free throws to get the lead up to four with 10 seconds left.
Carson Brooks (Knoxville, Tenn.) drove and was fouled. The senior sank the first free throw and intentionally missed the second off the right side of the rim. Josh Rogers (Bristol, United Kingdom) snagged the offensive rebound on the right block and fed Clark in the right corner for the game-tying three forcing overtime.
"They did exactly what we told them to do," Benson said. "Charles made a miraculous shot. I would have told you at that point that the momentum had shifted. Then they put points on the board first and eventually took control over the overtime period. That credit goes to them. They have veteran guards out there and they outperformed us in the overtime period with an understanding of how to finish the game."
However, the Eagles couldn't capitalize on momentum. C-N led 95-92 a minute into overtime. Then, the Pioneers outscored the Eagles 16-5 to close the game. C-N didn't hit a shot the final 2:04 of overtime and only made one of their last nine attempts from the field.
"I thought our execution and shot selection was terrible, specifically in overtime," Benson said. "We give our guys a lot of freedom offensively, and typically it's efficient. But we had some poor shot selection in winning time, and that really hurt us."
The Pioneers drilled 17 threes on 37 attempts. Both marks are season highs for Tusculum as well as Carson-Newman for threes made by an opponent. In fact, it's the second most threes a team has made against C-N since the turn of the century. King knocked down 18 in 40 attempts in a 79-71 win over Carson-Newman on Dec. 19, 2011.
The game marked the fifth time this year an opponent has knocked down at least 15 threes over the Eagles vaunted matchup zone. Carson-Newman saw five teams knock down at least 15 threes five times from 2000-2014, and never more than once in a single season. Four of the Eagles' last seven opponents have hit at least 15 threes.
Carson-Newman closed regulation shooting 54 percent from the field, but went just 3-of-11 in overtime to finish at 50.7 percent for the game.
Clark led the Eagles with 33. He took a career high 24 shots, making 11 and a career high nine threes, making three. Clark crests 30 for a fourth time this season and a sixth time in his career. Clark has more 30 point games in his career than Ish Sanders had in his four years at Mossy Creek.
Zack Pangallo (Newport, Ky.) reset his career high with 20 points, 15 of which came in the first half. Rogers and Sawyer Williams (Owenton, Ky.) rounded out the Eagles' double-digit scorers with 16 apiece.
For the first time ever, a Carson-Newman opponent had three players each score at least 20 points. Javon Price led the way with 26, including 6-for-15 shooting from deep. Kendall Patterson, who entered the game shooting 30 percent from three, went 6-for-9 from beyond the arc to finish with 21. Eight of Patterson's points and two of his triples came in the overtime period.
Darius Carter also had 21 for the Pioneers, including a flawless 7-for-7 at the charity stripe.
The Eagles were 18-of-30 at the line compared to a 21-of-26 effort for the Pioneers.
The loss keeps Carson-Newman in sixth place in the South Atlantic Conference standings. If the season ended today, the Eagles would travel to Wingate for a first round matchup with the Bulldogs.
Ironically, that's Carson-Newman's next opponent. C-N tips with the regionally-ranked Bulldogs Saturday at 4 p.m. inside Holt Fieldhouse. Pregame coverage on the Eagle Sports Network starts at 3:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mountain Country 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
