JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman's (12-14, 6-10 South Atlantic Conference) quest to make the South Atlantic Conference championship requires help.
First and foremost. C-N needs to win Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. inside Holt Fieldhouse when Emory & Henry (15-11, 6-10 SAC) visits.
However, the Eagles are far from in control of their own destiny. First and foremost, Carson-Newman must win out against Emory & Henry as well as Coker. Secondly, the Eagles need Limestone to lose its games against (Mars Hill and Wingate), and for Wingate to prevail against Newberry and, obviously, Limestone. Those circumstances would put Carson-Newman in position for a quarterfinal game at Catawba.
Carson-Newman is aiming for a sweep of the Wasps, the Eagles won in The King Center 85-69 back on Dec. 17.
This is Carson-Newman's second meeting with Emory & Henry since the 1975-76 season. Carson-Newman has won all 14 meetings in the recorded history by double-figures. The Eagles' average margin of victory in the series is 30.53 ppg. While that is ancient history, five of the Eagles 51 all-time 40+ point wins have come against the Wasps, the most of any one foe with the exception of King and Milligan.
Emory & Henry head coach Ben Thompson is the first of three Josh Schertz (former Lincoln Memorial head coach and current head coach of Indiana State) disciples that Carson-Newman will face this season (Lander - Omar Wattad and Lincoln Memorial - Jeremiah Samarripas are the others). Thompson was with the Railsplitters in 2015-16
Emory & Henry has the second-highest scoring offense in the SAC. The Wasps have tallied 80 points in four of their last six games.
Bryant Thomas is the ultimate shot-stopper. Carson-Newman's single-game, single-season and career record-holder for blocks now sits on 186. He has the fourth most blocked shots among active players in NCAA Division II. Thomas leads the league this season with 2.1 rejections per game and is top 15 in the country in blocks per game in that regard.
Thomas is in sole possession of ninth place on the league's all-time blocks list with 186. He needs six more to catch Eric Burrow, Presbyterian (1995-99) and his 192 sitting in eighth on the all-time list.
With 1,093 career points, senior guard Luke Brenegan will look to begin moving up the program's all-time scoring list. Brenegan is currently 34th all-time in Carson-Newman history in scoring. Next up on the list are No. 33 Mason Bates (1,106 points - 13 away) and No. 32 Skip Wyatt (1,118 points - 25 away).
Brenegan is square in fourth all-time for threes made over the course of a career with 220. He would need a bonkers close to his career, including a deep run in the NCAA tournament to catch Charles Clark and Malik Abraham in second with their 259 career threes.
Tipoff between the Eagles and Wasps is set for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network starts at 7:15 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mountain Talk 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
