VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Limestone (5-7, 2-6 South Atlantic Conference) torched the nets to the tune of 54.8 percent shooting after halftime, while knocking down 13-of-22 threes to break open a tight game and tally an 88-72 win over Carson-Newman (9-5, 5-4 SAC) Wednesday afternoon at the Timken Center.
The loss is Carson-Newman's third straight on the road. It gives the Saints a split in the season series while going down as Limestone's largest margin of victory in the 14-game history of the series.
"I saw elite shot-making from our opponent, again," head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "I think we are a proven, elite shot-making team, but now you have other people in our conference who are doing similar. This entire season, I have been so impressed with our opponents and their ability to make shots. When that is happening, there's just not a lot of good answers for our team. I have to give full credit to Limestone's ability to make shots today. We have to control what we can control, but if that ball leaves someone's hands, it can go in. We saw that today with Limestone's elite shot-making."
The final margin belies a game that featured seven ties and nine lead changes. Carson-Newman was step-for-step with the Saints until a 7-0 run turned a three-point Limestone lead into their first double-digit lead of the game off a Greg McKay layup with 10:59 to go in the contest.
Prior to that point, neither team had led by more than six. Once the Saints took advantage of a three-minute Eagle scoring drought to get the lead to double-digits, C-N would get no closer than eight the rest of the way.
Limestone finished the game shooting 53.4 percent from the field. The Saints were a season-best 13-of-22 from deep. C-N was a respectable 45.5 percent from the field and 9-of-27 from three. However, C-N fell off and shot 40.5 percent from the field after halftime and went 2-of-12 from three.
The loss obfuscates a career milestone for Jack Browder (Kingsport, Tenn.). He became the 43rd member of the 1,000-point club at C-N with his first basket of the game. Browder finished with 24 points. He was 8-of-15 from the floor and 1-of-3 from deep. He also added five boards.
Braden Ilic (Morristown, Tenn.) turned in a career-nigh with 26 points, 22 of which came in the first half. He finished the game 9-of-15 from the field and 6-of-12 from deep.
While Browder and Ilic combined for 50, no other Eagle was in double figures. C-N's bench scored two points.
Sirr Hughes and McKay both had 23 to lead Limestone. Hughes was 8-of-12 from the field and 4-of-5 from three. McKay had a double-double with 12 boards. He was 7-of-13 from the field.
Trevon Payton added 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting, while Yaturi Bolton had 11 points. A 29 percent three-point shooter coming in, Bolton made 3-of-6 threes. Emanuel Okogie finished with eight points, he was 2-for-3 from deep. He has made five threes this season, all against C-N.
Limestone outrebounded C-N 38-23 and had a 14-4 advantage in second-chance points.
C-N only turned it over seven times, but Limestone owned a 12-11 lead in points off turnovers.
Carson-Newman wraps up non-conference play Saturday against No. 9/7 North Georgia. Tipoff in Holt Fieldhouse is slated for 2 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 1:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on cneagles.com/live. A video stream is available through FloCollege at cneagles.com/FloMBB.
