VIDEO: Chuck Benson and Jack Browder Postgame Press Conference
LAKELAND, Fla. – Kicking off the Small College Hall of Fame Classic, RV Carson-Newman (0-1) fell in its 2024-25 season opener 85-78 to RV Lake Superior State on Saturday afternoon at George W. Jenkins Fieldhouse.
"I thought Lake Superior State was a really good team," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "They have everybody back from a Sweet 16 team last year, so we knew it was going to be a challenge. When you look at tape from last season, it's hard to really know what to expect. I knew they were going to be good but I actually thought they were better that I thought they were going to be. There is 29 more regular season games to go. We've got to learn from the experience today and be ready to go tomorrow."
Carson-Newman battled back from an 11-point first half deficit to chip away and make things a one-point margin at the break.
After falling into a 28-17 hole at the under-eight media, C-N outscored the Lakers 31-21 over the final seven minutes of the period to trail 49-48 at the break.
Carson-Newman grabbed a lead early in the second half. Braden Ilic (Morristown, Tenn.) and Nick Brenegan (Greenville, S.C.) canned back-to-back threes to give C-N its first lead since the early moments of the game, 54-51 with 90 seconds gone in the second half.
However, the Lakers answered with a 15-4 run to snag a nine-point lead seven minutes later with 9:02 to play. It was a 69-60 advantage for the Lakers. A 7-0 run capped by a Devin Womack extended the edge to 14, 78-64 with six minutes to play.
Carson-Newman made things interesting late with a 7-0 burst headlined by an Ilic three to get the margin down to single digits before falling by the final margin of 85-78.
The loss spoiled Jack Browder's (Kingsport, Tenn.) 20-point night. He also had six rebounds.
Trey Hubbard (Charlotte, N.C.) chased a triple double with 18 points, seven boards and six assists.
Ilic had a double-double in his debut with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Brenegan rounded out C-N's double-digit scorers with 11 points.
Tyson Edmonson led LSSU with 26 points. He was 10-of-18 from the floor and 5-of-9 from three. Kingsley Perkins was the Lakers only other double-digit scorer. He had 17 on 7-of-17 shooting.
C-N outshot the Lakers, 47.4 percent to 44.6 percent. However, LSSU drilled 14-of 32 threes compared to a 10-of-24 mark for C-N. The Eagles got to the line 22 times, knocking down 14. LSSU was 5-for-10 at the stripe. The Lakers took 17 more shots than C-N and had an eight-point advantage in second chance points.
The rebounding battle was dead even at 39, but LSSU had five more offensive rebounds than C-N did.
LSSU committed six turnovers and only one in the second half compared to Carson-Newman's 11.
"We'll transition very quickly to get ready for tomorrow," Benson said. "They (Fort Lewis) has a brand new head coach and a completely reconstructed roster. With Fort Lewis, there isn't really much to go off of, so we'll watch them play today and then our staff and guys will do a good job to prepare."
Carson-Newman is in action Sunday at 11 a.m. to wrap up the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic against Fort Lewis. Pregame coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 10:45 a.m. with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on MIX 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
