VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview
VIDEO: Highlights
VIDEO: Nehemie Kabeya Interview
VIDEO: Caleb Bridgewater Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (10-2) buried 17 triples and got a 30-point explosion from junior small forward Caleb Bridgewater (Charlotte, N.C.) to wallop old VSAC rival Tennessee Wesleyan (8-2) 110-65 Monday afternoon inside Holt Fieldhouse.
Carson-Newman's 45-point win is its largest in the 89-game history with the Bulldogs, a series that featured the teams playing multiple times a year every year from 1957-1991. It also marks C-N's fourth win this season by at least 30 points, and its second by 40 or more.
The Eagles got there via the long ball. Carson-Newman drilled 17 threes, the sixth-most in a single-game in school history. The Eagles did so efficiently as well. C-N nailed 12-of-17 shots from deep in the first half (70.6 percent), before finishing 17-of-31 from range for the game (54.8 percent).
"Our guys did what they were supposed to do," head coach Chuck Benson said. "For a lot of people way back when, this was an important game. We came out and delivered an aggressive punch and were able to keep it going in the second. TWU has a good team. We did what we needed to do on both ends of the floor and got the result that we wanted to make the Christmas holiday that much more merry."
Bridgewater more than doubled his previous career high, which he matched on Saturday against Emory & Henry when he scored 14. The junior erupted for 30 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field. He was 8-of-12 from deep. The eight made threes are tied for the fifth-most in a game in program history.
"I didn't plan on coming out and shooting this many shots," Bridgewater said. "That's just kind of how the game went. Any one of us is capable of coming out and producing like this."
Bridgewater led C-N in scoring for the second time in his career and also had seven boards to boot.
The eight threes are the most in a game since Malik Abraham drilled nine in-a-row at Anderson in 2019.
"Bridge's confidence is through the roof," Benson said. "Our guys wanted him to find shots tonight. For him, everyone knows what he does. He was able to find just enough separation to get good looks and capitalize. I love these kind of stories when a guy who has been invested has a day like today while we collectively come away with a win."
Bridgewater was the spark that lit Carson-Newman. In a 26-26 game midway through the first half. Bridgewater nailed three straight threes to spark an 11-0 run that broke the barn doors off the game.
Over the final 10 minutes of the first half, Carson-Newman outscored the Bulldogs 38-11 thanks to three distinct runs, 13-0, 9-0 and 9-0 to close the period.
Carson-Newman would stretch that 9-0 run spanning the halftime break into a 15-0 burst before the Bulldogs stopped a seven-minute scoring drought.
From the 10-minute mark of the first half, to the 15-minute mark of the second half, Carson-Newman outscored TWU 58-16.
Bridgewater led four Eagles in double digits. Bryant Thomas (Charlotte, N.C.) finished with 17 on 7-of-10 shooting. Monty Johal (Springfield, Mo.) added in 12, while Luke Brenegan (Greenville, S.C.) had 11 with six assists.
Bridgewater, Brenegan, Johal and Zhao all knocked down multiple threes.
Sixth most threes in a single-game in school history ✅
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) December 19, 2022
Largest margin of victory in the 89-game series history with Tennessee Wesleyan ✅
Five straight wins to head into Christmas break for @CN_Hoops pic.twitter.com/jb92Fxf895
The Eagles forced TWU into 20 turnovers while only committing eight en route to outscoring the Bulldogs 33-14 in points off turnovers.
Ray Tyler led TWU with 12. Ty Patterson and Jonathan Webb each had 10.
C-N owned a 41-33 rebounding margin, and in spite of outshooting the Bulldogs 56.5 percent to 37.9 percent, outscored Tennessee Wesleyan in second chance points 11-5.
Carson-Newman's bench had more than half of its scoring output, with 59 points.
Carson-Newman breaks for Christmas for 12 days before returning on New Year's Eve to take on Lander. Tipoff with the Bearcats is set for 2 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 1:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mountain Talk 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. A video stream is available with a subscription through FloSports.
