VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview
VIDEO: Ousmane Dia Interview
VIDEO: Nick Brenegan Interview
WINGATE, N.C. – Ousmane Dia (Dakar, Senegal) cleaned up a last-second missed layup and beat the buzzer with a tip in to propel Carson-Newman (19-8, 14-7 South Atlantic Conference) past Wingate (10-12, 8-11 SAC) 87-85 Saturday evening in Cuddy Arena.
The buzzer-beating tip in is the Eagles' eighth buzzer-beating game winner under head coach Chuck Benson. Dia joins EJ Bush as Eagles to have tipped in a game winner after a miss. Bush did his against Lenoir-Rhyne on Feb. 12, 2020.
After Kendall Taylor connected on a game-tying layup with eight seconds left, Jack Browder (Kingsport, Tenn.) drove the length of the floor before screening and rolling for Joshuwa Butts (Fairburn, Ga.) to try a layup. Butts' try lipped off the front of the rim, but Dia was there with an outstretched right hand. The ball left his fingers with 0.4 seconds on the clock and made it through the bottom of the barrel as the red lights flashed and the horn sounded
Video review confirmed Dia had got the shot off in time to propel the Eagles to the win.
Ballgame Oos @CN_Hoops x #TaonsUp #GMTE x @FloCollegeHoops pic.twitter.com/39TeFWwy48
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) February 16, 2025
"We wanted to have a larger body type in there for that final defensive possession," head coach Chuck Benson said. "We took Trey out, knowing that it could put us in a situation with eight seconds to go where we could've been in a bind. We got it out and in to Jack quickly and got a good screen and roll for Butts. He had a good look at it and I thought that one was going in. Ous had positioned himself near the rim and was able to control tip the offensive rebound back in. He played three minutes and left a big imprint on the outcome of the game."
Dia also had a pivotal defensive rebound in the final 30 seconds for C-N.
"I was just trying to make a play on it," Dia said. "I really thought he had made the layup, I was just trying to make a play in case he didn't. Thank God it went in."
Dia's bucket notwithstanding, the final minute of the game was nuts. Wingate led with 60 seconds left, 83-80 for its largest lead of the game following a pair of Taylor free throws. Browder attacked the basket on C-N's ensuing possession and got fouled. He knocked down two free throws to make it an 83-82 game.
The Eagles got a stop on Wingate's next possession after a missed elbow jumper from Taylor. C-N called timeout a to set up an option play for Braden Ilic (Morristown, Tenn.). Ilic chose to pass out to Nick Brenegan (Greenville, S.C.), who canned a three from the left point to put the Eagles up by two, 85-83 with 18.6 seconds left.
"That was a play we worked on every day," Benson said. "We gave Braden the RPO so to speak. Jack was going to the basket and that allowed Nick to get some separation and clearance at the top, Braden made the right decision and Nick did what he does. He deserves it. Nobody works harder than him."
Taylor answered on the other end with a layup to set the table for Dia's last-second heroics.
Brenegan had C-N's last buzzer-beating winner for the Eagles, a three to best Trevecca Nazarene on Nov. 21, 2021. While Brenegan didn't hit the winner Saturday, he was instrumental in C-N's offensive performance.
Brenegan paced C-N with 23 points. He buried 7-of-15 threes to mark his third career game with at least 15 threes attempted and also the third of his career with seven threes made.
BIG SHOT BRENEGAN 2.0����
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) February 15, 2025
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"Going into this game without John, he's such a critical piece to our offense that we knew we'd all have to step up," Brenegan said. "CB told me he didn't care about efficiency tonight, just volume. I tried to follow through with that and it worked out."
Browder joined him in double digits with 21 points and nine boards. Browder's four-game streak with a double-double came to a narrow halt. He also had four assists and was 3-of-4 from deep.
Ilic turned in a 19-point, four-rebound, four-assist day. He was 6-of-9 from the field and 2-for-5 from three.
Trey Hubbard (Charlotte, N.C.) chased a triple-double in 25 foul-plagued minutes. He had 10 points, seven boards and eight assists.
C-N was without the services of starting power forward John Zhao (Sevierville, Tenn.) for the game. Camden McElhaney (Sevierville, Tenn.) started his second career game en route to scoring four points and grabbing nine boards.
"Mac and Tate (Mulkey) gave us value," Benson said. "The two of them with Jack, for John not to play, I never questioned our capability. I know we have guys, we just don't have enough minutes. Tate and Mac played winning basketball for us. I'm not surprised, I'm just happy we had the performance worthy of a win on the road."
Meanwhile, it was a two-man show for Wingate.
C-N wins it at the buzzer - the Eagles win their eighth game at the horn under @CNHeadCoachB all-time.
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) February 16, 2025
Nick Brenegan buried seven threes. @CN_Hoops x #TalonsUp x #GMTE pic.twitter.com/G9OAR0Ga38
The SAC's leading scorer Taylor turned in his sixth straight 20-point game and his ninth in his last 10 contests with a 31-point day. Taylor was 9-of-17 from the field and 11-of-13 from the line. He also snared 11 rebounds for a double-double. He scored 26 points after halftime.
Jordan Miller scored a career high 29 points. He had made 15 threes all season, but went 7-of-12 from long range. Miller also handed out five assists.
"Our guys honored the scout," Benson said. "We wanted to put more pressure on Miller and he delivered in a lot of ways. We put pressure on him to do things, and he did. Taylor we knew would come out aggressively in the second half and Coach Good would allow him to work. Our guys did keep the plot as they played. I'm proud of them for that."
Carson-Newman shot 50 percent from the field for the game while Wingate made 43.9 percent of its shots. The Eagles were 12-of-33 from deep, compared to Wingate's 13-of-29 mark from long range.
C-N owned a 39-33 edge on the boards, while Wingate won the turnover battled 13-7. That was also the margin for the Bulldogs edge in points off turnovers.
The win for C-N splits the season series with Wingate.
"This is always a tough place to win," Benson said. "We need people's best punch to show what kind of jaw we have. I think we showed today that we have a pretty strong jaw."
Carson-Newman returns home for its penultimate home game Wednesday against Emory & Henry at 7:30 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 7:15 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.
