VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview
MARS HILL, N.C. – Mars Hill buried eight of the first 10 threes it took to build a 21-point first half lead before clinging to a 74-65 win over Carson-Newman Wednesday at Stanford Arena.
Mars Hill sweeps the season series with Carson-Newman for the first time since 2009-10.
The Lions surged early with 13-4 and 15-1 first-half runs to construct a 40-19 lead with 5:35 to play in the opening half after a six minute field goal drought for C-N.
"Our start and our ability to handle that punch wasn't as polished as I would have liked," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "We got it to 10 midway through the second, but had missed layups, turnovers and missed crucial opportunities to continue to make headway. I'd like to say you take something positive from it, but it's become a frustrating loop that at some point, we collectively have to complete and finish from start to finish a game."
Carson-Newman shot 34.5 percent from the field in the first half and 1-for-10 from three.
The Eagles found their footing both offensively and defensively after halftime. After an 8-of-10 start from three-point range, Mars Hill only connected on three of its final 24 attempts Furthermore, the Lions only shot 25.9 percent from the field after halftime.
Still, when the Eagles needed to play flawlessly to complete the comeback, Carson-Newman had timely turnovers that hampered the come-from-behind efforts.
While C-N shot 51.5 percent from the field after halftime, the Eagles also had 10 turnovers.
"Philosophically, I'm all about controlling what you can control," Benson said. "I think the more you do that, the better you give yourselves a chance to do something at a high enough level to get a win. That reality is more easily embraced by some than others. One would think that it's a relatively easy process to embrace. It seems to me this season, it's not been easy and guys have struggled with that reality.
"With the reunion this past weekend, I can't tell you how many former players made the comment to me from being around our current team, they said that we have guys that want to be about the right things. However, they've not adjusted to understand that you don't keep your eye on the scoreboard. You don't talk about winning and losing. You talk about the things tied to winning and our ability to do them for an extended period for 40 minutes. Our team just hasn't been able to get that to click."
By the 11-minute mark in the second half, C-N had cut the deficit to 11 following a Dima Bykov (Moscow, Russia) and-one.
However, Carson-Newman coughed up turnovers on its next two possessions and Mars Hill extended the lead back to 16 with five straight points from Javonte Cook.
C-N cut the lead to five, 67-62 with 52 seconds left following a Trey Smith (Boiling Springs, S.C.) triple, but an offensive foul and an Austin Gilyard rebound in a one-on-four situation following a missed front end of a one-and-one thwarted any miracle chances of Carson-Newman matching the biggest comeback in school history.
EJ Bush (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) led all scorers with 16 points. He missed out on a double-double with nine boards. Luke Brenegan (Greenville, S.C.) and Tripp Davis (Nashville, Tenn.) each went for 10.
All five starters finished in double figures for the Lions. Gilyard led the charge with 16. Jamal Bryant had a double-double with 12 points and 12 boards.
The loss is Carson-Newman's ninth straight road defeat.
"It doesn't matter to me whether we're playing at home or away," Benson said. "Our issues aren't about the opponent or locations. Our issues are about us and collectively coming to terms with what winning requires. We do too many things at this time that lead to losing more than winning."
Carson-Newman wraps up a stretch of four road games out of five Saturday at Coker. Tipoff with the Cobras is set for 4 p.m. Coverage starts 15 minutes prior to gametime on the Eagle Sports Network on The Mountain 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
