BOONE, NC – Carson-Newman (3-1) used a wire-to-wire effort to take down Lees-McRae (1-1) in the final game of the SAC/Conference Carolinas Challenge, 87-80.
"I'm very pleased," head coach Chuck Benson said. "With what we saw last night from Lees-McRae, I thought they were going to be a legitimate concern, which they were. But I felt we stayed focused on our guys and what we do. I credit our guys for a quick turnaround and prep… We beat a good team today."
The Bobcats started the scoring with a Ja'Quavian Florence jumper eight seconds in, but they would not see the lead again. Nick Brenegan (Greenville, SC) knocked down one of his four threes to answer. Braden Ilic (Morristown, Tenn.) and Brenegan hit a three apiece before the under-16 to have C-N up by five.
The two teams played almost eight minutes without a whistle, and with that, Benson went to his bench. Keliese Frye (Newport, KY) made his stamp on the game with a reverse layup to push the Eagle lead to seven.
Braden Ilic continued to impress, going on his own 5-0 run to extend the Eagle lead to ten at 27-17. Frye turned defense into offense after Ilic's spurt, throwing down a one-handed slam off a steal to give C-N its largest lead at 12.
The Bobcats clawed back, but were silenced by a Nick Brenegan three to reinstate a 12-point lead. However, they scored eight of the last nine in the half, highlighted by a Nico Ashley layup at the buzzer to send themselves to the locker room down just five.
Brenegan led the way for C-N in the first half, scoring 15 points. Braden Ilic had eight at the break.
The Eagles were tested in the second half but never wavered. The Bobcats cut the deficit to three on a Ja'Quavian Florence triple at 17:11. C-N quickly answered with two Ilic free throws and a Brenegan triple on the following possession, growing the lead back to eight.
Trey Hubbard (Charlotte, NC) scored the next four points for C-N, and despite a Dre Nelson triple to break up the run, C-N found itself ahead by nine at the under-16.
Lees-McRae would again cut into the C-N lead as Travis Pourciau slammed home an and-one dunk to shrink the Eagle lead to five. However, the bench would come up big again as Keliese Frye rolled home a layup, and Matt Bilbrey (Crossville, Tenn.) scored eight consecutive points on a layup and two threes to give C-N its largest lead at 14 points, forcing a Bobcat timeout at 7:27.
The Bobcats would get no closer than seven the rest of the way, as C-N secured its second-straight win inside Holmes Convocation Center.
While C-N's starters delivered, the bench came up big, scoring 16 points compared to just four the day prior against King. Bilbrey led the way off the bench with eight, Frye added six, and Tate Mulkey (Charlotte, NC) scored two.
"Our surge in the second half came from those guys," Benson said. "Those four guys all bring value. We don't surge and get that big lead without them… We've got more than just our core big four. It's just them getting opportunities… We play a smaller rotation for a handful of reasons. But I think those guys showed a lot of trustworthiness today, which is one of our core values. To come in and add value in limited minutes."
The Eagles were led in scoring by Nick Brenegan, scoring a season-high 24 points on 6-of-12 shooting, nailing four threes. Braden Ilic poured in 16, shooting a perfect six-of-six from the field. Jack Browder (Kingsport, Tenn.) added 12, Trey Hubbard scored 10, and John Zhao (Sevierville, Tenn.) tallied nine.
C-N will return to Holt Fieldhouse on Tuesday for its home opener, squaring off with Johnson & Wales (NC) at 7 pm.
For updates throughout the men's basketball season, visit cneagles.com and follow us on social media @cn_eagles.
