VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview
WINGATE, N.C. – Wingate (8-10, 4-8 South Atlantic Conference) connected on more free throws than Carson-Newman (7-11, 4-8 SAC) attempted in a foul-plagued 96-84 win for the Bulldogs Saturday afternoon in Cuddy Arena.
The Bulldogs converted on 34-of-40 free throws compared to the Eagles' 20-of-23 mark at the line. Wingate went 13-of-13 at the stripe in the final 3:55 of the game.
"Anytime a team takes 40 free throws in a game, there's going to be an impact," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "This was a game between two physical teams. I wish in this situation, that both teams had been able to figure things out and just play."
The teams were whistled for a combined 54 fouls, the second most fouls two teams have combined for in a game for the Eagles all year. C-N was called for 35 of them, the most its committed this season and the first time C-N has been tagged for more than 30 since Jan. 30, 2012 when the Eagles were whistled for 30 fouls in a 99-73 at home over Mars Hill.
For the first time in Chuck Benson's 10-year tenure as Carson-Newman's head coach, three players fouled out (EJ Bush, Luke Brenegan and Reece Anderson), while three more finished the game with four fouls (Tripp Davis, Dima Bykov and Richard Hendderson).
"The bottom line is that both coaching staffs knew that this was going to be a tough, competitive match," Benson said. "Usually one team trumps the other. That wasn't the case tonight. I thought both teams were really determined, they were just able to lock it down late."
Carson-Newman seized control of the game with a 9-0 run while holding Wingate scoreless for a four minute stretch in the second half. The Bulldogs led 62-54 with 12:07 to play off a Shaman Alston layup. The Bulldogs wouldn't score again until the 7:59 mark.
In the interim, C-N grabbed a lead with a 9-0 run. Trey Smith (Boiling Springs, S.C.) buried a corner three with 9:04 to play to get C-N within one, then Luke Brenegan (Greenville, S.C.) hit a runner through a euro step 27 seconds later to give the Eagles a 63-62 lead.
"Our team has learned to become more resilient," Benson said. "The message has been to not panic and to find a solution. Our overall response to a tough environment, foul trouble and a tough opponent – our response, our body language, our connectivity and our unity in huddles was good. We have to figure out a way to go beyond that and take those leads and extend them, rather than giving them back to our opponents."
The lead would be short-lived. Miguel Priest tied the game with a free throw the next trip down the floor, before Jacob Dawkins hit a paint jumper with 7:08 to play to give Wingate a lead it wouldn't relinquish.
C-N knotted things up at 72 with 5:29 left off a Smith three, after back-to-back paint touches for scores by Priest and Dawkins, Smith again cut it to one, 76-75, with 4:22 left with a trio of free throws.
"We're trying to become a better winning time team," Benson said. "We gave up a huge, very difficult and contested three in the opposite corner running a shooter away from the ball off staggers. We had gained momentum with six minutes left, and defensively we got too extended worrying about our men instead of our team defense. They got multiple guys into the paint and that's what cost us. Credit Wingate. They're good and they're good at home. We put up a good fight and we learned more about ourselves."
The Bulldogs would outscore Carson-Newman 20-9 the rest of the way with all but seven of those points coming at the charity stripe.
Wingate came out of the under four media timeout with five seconds on the shotclock. An opposite corner inbound led to a well-defensed, but made three at the horn of the shotclock by Francis Sio stretched the lead to two possessions.
Carson-Newman kept the deficit at four with back-to-back buckets from Tripp Davis (Nashville, Tenn.) and EJ Bush (Oak Ridge, Tenn.), however, with 1:29 to play, Sio hit an and-one lay-in to push the edge to seven. C-N would get no closer the rest of the way as Wingate connected on each of its 11 free throw attempts in the final 89 seconds.
The win for Wingate splits the regular season series for the first time since 2012-13. The teams had swept each other three times apiece the last six years.
The loss hands Carson-Newman its seventh consecutive road defeat.
Smith led Carson-Newman in scoring for the first time in his career with a career-high 17 points. He was 4-of-9 from the field and from three.
In his return from injury, Jaylan McGill (Charlotte, N.C.) went for 15 on 6-of-11 shooting, including going 3-for-6 from three. Davis tallied the second double-double of his career with 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Bush rounded out C-N's double-digit scorers with 11 points before fouling out in 18 minutes.
For the first time since Feb. 2, 2018 against Queens, C-N saw its opponent finish with six players in double-digits.
Jaren Cottingham and Francis Sio did the bulk of the damage, combining for 46. Sio had 24, including 17 in the second half. He was 7-for-8 from the field, 2-for-3 from deep and a perfect 8-for-8 at the charity stripe.
Meanwhile, Cottingham dropped 22, 18 of which came before halftime.
Priest had 13 and was a rebound away from a double-double with nine boards. Kendrick Tucker followed suit with 11 while Donnell Nix set a career high with 10 points, all the first half. Jacob Dawkins had 10 off the bench.
C-N outrebounded 43-34 but couldn't capitalize on its rebounding edge.
The Eagles had 18 offensive rebounds to eight for the Bulldogs, but only had a 17-14 advantage in second chance points.
Carson-Newman turned it over 16 times, 12 of which were deadball turnovers. Wingate had a 17-8 edge in points off turnovers. Seven of the Eagles 16 giveaways were the result of offensive fouls
Carson-Newman stays on the road Wednesday with a trip to third-ranked Lincoln Memorial. Tipoff with the Railsplitters is set for 7:30 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 7:15 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on The Mountain 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
