VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview
VIDEO: Highlights
VIDEO: Luke Brenegan Interview
VIDEO: Bryant Thomas Interview
VIDEO: Ivan Hadzic Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (14-14, 8-10 South Atlantic Conference) wrapped up the 2022-23 campaign with a riveting 71-70 win over Coker (12-16, 6-12 SAC) Saturday afternoon in Holt Fieldhouse.
C-N narrowly misses out on the final spot in the SAC tournament thanks to Limestone's win over Wingate in the Saints' regular season finale. Limestone, also 8-10 in league play out of the Mountain Division, owns the tiebreaker over Carson-Newman by virtue of a win over Tusculum.
"What I care about is Luke Brenegan, Bryant Thomas and Ivan Hadzic," head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "There's a ton of emotion, but its about understanding that another good thing has come to an end. I have savored the experiences with these guys, and those three guys have won a lot more than they've lost. They've won a championship and made the NCAA tournament. That's in a team capacity. Then individually, they've accomplished massive things as well. Just knowing our time is over is difficult."
The game finished in bonkers fashion. Carson-Newman grabbed a six point left with 1:08 to play on a Jack Browder (Kingsport, Tenn.) free throw. Coker cut it to two with 34 seconds left on a Jordan Jones paint jumper. A situation set up by two missed C-N foul shots.
Even with those misses, C-N beat Coker's press and got Nick Brenegan (Greenville, S.C.) to the line with 19 seconds left. He calmly canned both to stretch the lead back to two possessions.
Seven seconds later, Jones made a twisting layup to cut the lead back to two, 70-68. Coker once more fouled the younger Brenegan brother. He missed the first, but made the second to give C-N a three-point lead.
Chuck Benson's team did what his teams have always done, and fouled with a three-point lead to prevent a last second heave. With seven seconds left, Jones connected on his first free throw but misses his second.
Bryant Thomas (Charlotte, N.C.) then redirected two Coker looks to tie. However, his second block caromed out to the right wing to an awaiting Tate Mulkey. The Coker wing took aim at a potential game-winning three. He clanked it off the front iron, but hit the deck after drawing contact.
A foul put him at the line needing two to tie and three to win.
With Luke Brenegan (Greenville, S.C.) encouraging the Holt Fieldhouse crowd to make noise, Mulkey buried the first. His second caromed off the front iron and his third bounced of the right side of the rim and into Thomas' awaiting arms to secure C-N the win.
"Our guys fought and scrapped against a Coker team that was really hungry," Benson said. "They needed to win to guarantee themselves a spot. It was a wild finish, but we were able to find a way to get a win and I loved that."
The performance to get to that stage was gritty. C-N only shot 39 percent from the field, but absolutely eviscerated the Cobras on the glass. C-N had 18 offensive rebounds, one fewer than Coker had defensive boards. That led to a 16-5 edge for C-N in second chance points.
After Coker canned 51.9 percent of its shots in the first half, C-N clamped down defensively and limited the Cobras to 29.0 percent shooting after halftime (9-of-31), including a 1-of-7 mark from beyond the arc.
"They are one resilient group," Benson said. "They took a lot of punches in January and February, but they finish like winners. These guys have been champions. I didn't expect us to go from championship winners to straight up losers. They prevented that. Our guys just had a little bit more fight to them and it was very much on display."
Nick Brenegan led C-N with 19 points. He knocked down 6-of-11 shots from the field and a career-best 6-of-7 free throws. His older brother Luke followed with 15 points and three assists. Ren Dyer (Weaverville, N.C.) rounded out C-N's double-digit scorers with 14. He was 5-of-8 from the field and 3-of-5 from three. Dyer also pulled down eight boards.
Bryant Thomas had 11 rebounds, including six on the offensive glass. He finished with five blocks, giving him 194 for his career, which puts him eighth all-time in SAC history. He also had eight points.
Jones led Coker with 23 points and eight assists. Jamie Muldowney added in 17, while Jaylen Ray had 10.
Carson-Newman closes its season with a 12th non-losing campaign under Chuck Benson. For news and notes on the Carson-Newman men's basketball program in the offseason, visit @CN_Eagles and @CNHoops on Twitter.
