VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview
VIDEO: Carson Brooks Interview
HARTSVILLE, S.C. - Carson-Newman (16-12, 12-10 South Atlantic Conference) rallied from a late deficit with a 14-2 run to push past Coker (9-17, 5-17 SAC) for the Eagles' first ever win in Hartsville, Saturday afternoon at the DeLoach Center.
With the win and a Newberry loss at Brevard, the Eagles finish the season tied for fifth in the SAC standings. However, Newberry owns the tiebreak in the standings with the Eagles, and, as such, Carson-Newman is seeded sixth in next week's SAC tournament and will play at Wingate, Wednesday.
Carson-Newman trailed 66-61 with 7:49 left in the second half following a Trey Marshall steal and layup. Coker would only make two more field goals the rest of the game while the Eagles rallied for the 14-2 spurt. A Sawyer Williams (Owenton, Ky.) lay up from the left block with 3:06 to play gave the Eagles the lead, 69-68. A Carson Brooks (Knoxville, Tenn.) 10-foot fade away, a pair of Charles Clark (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) and a Mason Bates layup along the left baseline gave C-N a seven-point edge it would not relinquish.
"We got stops and we went down and got good looks to finish at the rim," head coach Chuck Benson said. "Carson and Sawyer also did a good job getting to the free throw line and converting those freebies."
The Eagles swept Coker for the first time ever in series history while winning a third straight game against the Cobras for the first time ever.
Coker was game and came out firing to challenge Carson-Newman on the Cobras' senior day.
Coker drilled eight of its first 12 three point attempts to hop out to a nine-point lead on an 11-2 run. Eventually the Cobras, the nation's third worst shooting team, cooled off. After the torrid start, the Cobras finish 4-of-25 from beyond the arc.
"Coker has been a team that has really struggled to score the ball," Benson said. "They were so hot to start, we talked to our guys about maintaining poise even when things are going great. The percentages caught up with the Cobras in the second half."
Meanwhile, the Eagles put together an offensive performance characteristic of the nation's most efficient offense. The Eagles shot 27-of-45 (60 percent) from the field for their second straight game at 60 percent or better and their sixth this season.
Williams was a key proponent to the Eagles' efficiency. The junior got within nine points of 1,000 in his career with a 21-point, five rebound, three-block effort. Williams was 7-for-9 from the floor.
Brooks and Clark followed suit by scoring 18 each. Brooks had nine rebounds, all after halftime.
"I felt like Carson, Sawyer and Charles were all playing gutty and gritty through various things," Benson said. "For those three guys to step up and perform, they just desperately wanted to win. Our front line played more minutes than Charles and Mason, that's really not typical and speaks volumes to their physical toughness."
Brooks and Williams, a duo who averages a combined 52 percent at the free throw line, combined to go 13-for-20 from the foul line.
Josh Rogers (Bristol, United Kingdom) added 11 points and seven rebounds.
Coker managed to keep things close even after the Cobras torrid first-half three-point shooting wore off. The nation's 12th best offensive rebounding team had 18 offensive caroms and turned them into 16 second chance points.
The Eagles didn't' give up a second chance bucket over the final 10 minutes of the game, helping key their comeback win.
Donte Samuel led Coker with 17 in defeat on 5-of-13 shooting. Jake Barrett added 12.
Carson-Newman opens up South Atlantic Conference tournament play Wednesday at Wingate. Tipoff for the Bulldogs and Eagles is set for 8 p.m. in a six-seed v. three-seed matchup. The game will begin online only at cneagles.com/live beginning with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff 15 minutes prior to tipoff. The game will then be joined in progress on the full Eagle Sports Network at the conclusion of the Carson-Newman women's basketball tournament game at Newberry.
