VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Mars Hill (6-5, 4-1 South Atlantic Conference) knocked down 58 percent of its shots after halftime and used an 8-0 run to hand Carson-Newman (5-6, 2-3 SAC) a 99-90 loss Wednesday night at Holt Fieldhouse.
"I want to give credit to Mars Hill," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "They took and made what we define as tough, low percentage shots. They capitalized time and time and time again. I don't know how many times I told guys in the game good defense, they just made a great shot, shake it off and keep playing. Their shotmaking today was top notch, and if we had to do it again, I wouldn't change anything about how we played defensively, I would hope they would take the same shots."
The Lions trailed 48-44 at the halftime break after Carson-Newman used a 13-1 run to erase a nine-point first half Mars Hill lead.
Mars Hill exploded for an 8-0 run over 1:21 of game action to take a 60-57 lead 15:27 to go in the second half. The Lions would not relinquish that lead. Austin Gilyard started and finished the run with triples, sandwiching them around a pair of Ja'Shawn Brooks.
The Lions led by as many as 11 with 4:05 to play. However, Tripp Davis (Nashville, Tenn.) connected on back-to-back-back threes to get the deficit down to two with 1:53 to play.
"We had several guys that responded in such a way to never surrender and continue to fight, scratch and claw," Benson said. "We just had too many poor decisions that were magnified down the stretch."
Carson-Newman turned the ball over three times in the final four minutes. All three turnovers ended with Mars Hill scoring points on the other end.
"It was a one possession game, we press, get a steal in the backcourt and turn it right back over," Benson said. "That's just one example. The more we get in those scenarios and circumstances, the more we will grow from them. Typically the majority of your growth comes from the adversity you face. We did enough to beat ourselves today."
Both the Eagles and Lions turned the ball over 16 times. However, the Lions owned a 22-17 advantage in points off turnovers, including an 11-3 advantage in the final 10 minutes of the game.
The loss obfuscates a career-high day for Davis. He finished with 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting. He went 6-of-9 from downtown too. Davis was one of five double-digit scorers for C-N.
Reece Anderson (Douglasville, Ga.) added in 16 points, five boards and five assists; however, he also had five turnovers.
Richard Henderson (Maryland Heights, Mo.) posted his second straight double-digit scoring effort with 12 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Kamil Chapman (Charlotte, N.C.) and EJ Bush (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) added 11 and 10, respectively.
Mars Hill got a combined 69 points from Jamal Bryant, Ja'Shawn Brooks and Austin Gilyard.
Bryant went for a season-high 28 on 11-of-17 shooting. He was shooting 27 percent from three coming into the contest, but knocked down a season-best 3-of-6 threes.
"Jamal Bryant, are you kidding me," Benson said. "He scores 28 on 17 shots. He took a plethora of long-range twos and made them. If he took 17 shots, it felt like 17 of them were from 15 feet out. Of those 17, it felt like half were from 17 feet out and off the bounce. Credit to him. He made them."
Brooks, the league second-leading scorer posted 25, including 20 after halftime. He drilled a back-breaking three with 30 seconds left to give MHU a two-possession lead. Brooks finished 7-of-18 from the field, including 5-of-8 from the field in the second half and 4-for-6 from three.
Austin Gilyard added in 16 points. Javonte Cook had 14 with eight boards and five dimes.
Mars Hill outrebounded Carson-Newman 45-40, the first time C-N has been outrebounded this season.
Carson-Newman breaks for the holidays before returning to action in 2020 at Catawba on Jan. 4. Tipoff from Goodman Gym is at 4 p.m. Pregame coverage on the Eagle Sports Network starts 15 minutes prior to gametime with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on The Mountain 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
