January 28, 2009

MARS HILL, N.C. - Tusculum squeezed out a nail biter over Mars Hill 59-55 Wednesday night inside Stanford Arena. The Pioneers improve to 13-6, 5-3 in the SAC. The Lions drop to 11-7, 2-6 in the SAC.

Danny Sanders (Shelby, N.C.) opened the Mars Hill scoring with a two-handed flush but the Pioneers went on a 9-0 run finished off by two buckets by Josh Bennett (Snow Hill, Md.).

Tusculum grabbed an eight point lead, 15-7, off a jumper by Ryan Troutman (Mt. Washington, Ky.) but Jamarl Glen (District Heights, Md.) scored on the next possession with a layup at the 10:07 mark.

Taylor Hobbs (Dublin, Ohio) drained a trey with 8:57 left in the half, but Tony Blake (Canton, N.C.) responded with a three on the next possession to make the score 18-12 in favor of the Pioneers.

The Lions came back on a 10-3 run, finished off by a fastbreak layup by Jarred Pickering (Queensland, Australia), to cut the deficit to 21-20 with 3:14 left in the half.

Troutman drilled a three from the corner to increase Tusculum's lead to six points, 30-24, with 39.2 seconds left in the period and the Pioneers held a 32-26 halftime advantage.

Akeene Coakley (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) opened the second half with a three and a steal by Glen and layup by Stoney Polite (Morganton, N.C.) made the score 32-31 at the 18:02 mark.

A P.J. Gore (North Myrtle Beach, S.C.) fastbreak slam cut Tusculum's lead to 35-33, but Troutman hit a three on the next possession at the 14:38 mark to give the Pioneers a five point lead.

Trailing 40-33, Mars Hill went on a 10-2 run, capped by a three by Sanders, and took the lead with 8:40 left in regulation.

Both teams traded buckets for the next several minutes. Trailing 49-48, Wes Taylor (Oregon, Ohio) hit a deep three from the top of the key to give Tusculum a 51-49 advantage with 4:44 left in the half.

Mars Hill tried to rally. Coakley made a fastbreak layup with 42.2 seconds remaining to make the score 55-52 in favor of the Pioneers. Sanders hit a long range shot from behind the arc to cut Tusculum's lead to 57-55 with 12.5 seconds remaining, but Kyle Moore (Gainesville, Fla.) sank two free throws to end the Lions' comeback attempt.

Troutman finished with 14 points for Tusculum. Moore had 13 points.

Sanders scored a game-high 17 points for Mars Hill. Coakley recorded 14 points. Gore had six points and nine rebounds.

Mars Hill will host Brevard Saturday at 4 p.m. inside Stanford Arena.

Boxscore...

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