VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview
VIDEO: Highlights
VIDEO: Trey Hubbard Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – No. 24/20 Carson-Newman (6-1, 2-0 South Atlantic Conference) turned in a sixth-straight 50 percent shooting night, staving off a second-half Tusculum (0-5, 0-1 SAC) rally to prevail 95-91 Wednesday night in Holt Fieldhouse.
Carson-Newman blistered the nets to the tune of 62.9 percent shooting in the first half while the Eagles built a 16-point lead. C-N led 57-43 at the break. Tusculum rallied, making tough two after tough two before eventually taking an 81-80 lead with six minutes left.
"I've seen Tusculum do this too many times," head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "I was scared to death going downstairs at the half knowing that we had performed very well and had a nice lead. I know how JT's (TU head coach JT Burton) teams function though. I warned our guys not to get fat, sassy and happy because we were about to get some punches thrown our way figuratively speaking. That's exactly what happened. Credit to Tusculum. They pushed and took the lead, but we were able to hang on and come out with the win in spite of the fact that they truly made it interesting."
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— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) November 21, 2024
Brenegan extends the C-N lead back to seven with a clutch triple late!
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1:06 2nd half
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Carson-Newman had answers after Bryce Jackson capped a 12-2 Pioneer run with the three that gave TU its only lead with 6:44 to go. C-N answered immediately with a 5-0 burst of its own. Jack Browder (Kingsport, Tenn.) took advantage of an offensive rebound before Nick Brenegan (Greenville, S.C.) swished in a corner three to put the Eagles up for good.
The dagger came with 66 seconds left. After Tusculum missed two free throws with a chance to make it a two point game, Trey Hubbard (Charlotte, N.C.) knifed along the right baseline. With two drawn to the ball, Hubbard found Brenegan naked in the left corner for C-N's 11th three of the night. The triple put the Eagles ahead 93-86 and secured the win.
The pass that led to Brenegan's three was Hubbard's sixth assist. Four of his six dimes came after halftime. Hubbard spent the majority of the first half in a scoring role. He dropped 28 first-half points before finishing with 30 – a career-high. He was ignorantly effective from the field, making 13-of-15 shots and all three of his threes.
"I'm pleased with what Trey did, but I can't say I'm surprised," Benson said. "He's confident and knows that we have a high level of belief in him. Thank goodness he did what he did. Tusculum made significant adjustments to make it more difficult for him. We did a poor job of attacking; we played not to lose instead of playing to win that second half. Tusculum was playing for their lives to win. That's how you had that second half turn into what it turned into."
All five starters for C-N finished in double digits for a second straight game.
John Zhao (Sevierville, Tenn.) produced his 22nd career 20-point night, going for 23 – 16 of which came after halftime.
Browder produced his 14th career double-double with 18 points and a career-high matching 13 rebounds. He was 9-for-10 at the stripe. Braden Ilic (Morristown, Tenn.) and Brenegan both had 11 to round out C-N's double-digit scorers.
Tusculum entered the contest bottom five nationally in field goal percentage and scoring, shooting woes that did not follow the Pioneers into Holt.
The Pioneers set season highs for field goal percentage (48.0), scoring (91) threes made (11) and had five players reset their career highs.
Bryce Jackson led the Pioneers with a new career best of 26. He was 10-of-18 from the field. He surpassed the 24 he had against Carson-Newman in the Eagles' win in Greeneville last December.
Taj and Denaj Kimber followed with 19 and 14, respectively, while Jason Britton rounded out four double-digit scorers with 10. All four players reset their high water marks for scoring.
Career high 3️⃣0️⃣-piece for @TreyHubbard_
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) November 21, 2024
22nd career 2️⃣0️⃣-point game from @jonathanzhao22
6️⃣ straight nights shooting 50% or better. @cn_hoops x #TalonsUp x #GMTE pic.twitter.com/tv32qqwIqw
C-N owned a 41-33 edge on the glass over Tusculum and outscored the Pioneers in the paint 48-26.
The win snaps a three-game losing skid to TU in Holt Fieldhouse. It marks C-N's first win in the series at home since February 2020.
Carson-Newman has won six straight games. The Eagles have shot at least 50 percent from the field in all six of those contests – the longest such streak since beginning the first eight games of the 2017-18 season above 50 percent.
Carson-Newman wraps up a four-game home stand Saturday at 4 p.m. against Catawba. Pregame coverage begins at 3:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mix 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. A video stream is available with a subscription to FloSports at cneagles.com/FloMbb.
