GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – On an afternoon when one team's three-game win streak had to come to an end, the Tusculum men's basketball team capitalized on early shooting woes by the Trojans to jump out to a double-digit lead less than five minutes into the game and went on to defeat Anderson, 70-54, in South Atlantic Conference play Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Arena.
"I did a poor job of getting our guys to understand the importance of getting off to a good start," said Anderson head coach Jeff Brookman. "We were not ready to execute offensively and gave up too many offensive rebounds early in the game."
Anderson slipped to 7-5 overall and 2-4 in the conference, while Tusculum (10-4, 5-1 SAC), which was coming off a six-point win over 20th-ranked Queens, stretched its win streak to four games and snapped a four-game losing streak at the hands of the Trojans.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Senior guard Shawn Benard led the Trojans with 13 points – all in the second half – and shared game-high honors with four assists and two steals. Junior guard Quin Nottingham added 12 points, two assists and a pair of steals, with freshman forward Mack Burgett netting a career-high 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field. The Richmond, Va., native also equaled a career-high with six rebounds in 22 minutes of action.
Tusculum junior forward Brandon Mitchell led all players with 18 points and 17 rebounds, while teammate Caleb Hodnett came off the bench to score 11 points and grab nine rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
Anderson was unable to shake off the rust from a 15-day layoff early, going 1-for-7 from the field to start the contest, with junior Alex Keel's jumper with 18:21 on the clock marking the Trojans' only basket until Burgett dropped in a layup three minutes later.
The Trojans' struggles enabled Tusculum to open a double-digit, 12-2, lead inside the opening five minutes and AU trailed by as many as 16 points twice, before Mitchell's layup boosted the Pioneers' edge to 18 with 2:19 on the clock.
Neither team was able to find the bottom of the basket until Burgett's layup with 28 seconds remaining set the halftime score at 36-20.
Second Half
The Trojans opened the second frame as hot as they were cold in the first half, as they connected on their first three field goal attempts. After being held scoreless in the opening 20 minutes, Benard sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around a jumper by Quin Nottingham – all in the opening two minutes – to slice the deficit to single digits, at 36-28.
A stout Trojan defense also stepped up in the early moments of the half – holding the Pioneers scoreless until senior guard Tariq Jenkins dropped in a pair of free throws at the 16:20 mark. Tusculum rebuilt its advantage to 11 on three more occasions over the next five minutes, before Keel nailed his lone trey of the afternoon to get the Trojans within 45-37 with 13:07 remaining. The Oviedo, Fla., native's 3-pointer ignited an 11-3 run by the Trojans over the next three minutes, with Nottingham and Benard fueling the rally with five points and four points, respectively.
Benard capped the run with his 12th point and brought AU within 48-46 midway through the half, but the Pioneers withstood the comeback and responded with seven unanswered points as part of a 17-6 scoring outburst that gave Tusculum an insurmountable 65-52 advantage with less than three minutes left.
ANDERSON STAT OF THE DAY
The Trojans' shooting percentage (35.1%) marked their lowest accuracy of the season.
NOTABLES
• The Pioneers won the rebounding battle, 44-32.
• Tusculum has not lost a conference game since November 30.
• The 20 points in the opening half were the fewest scored by the Trojans this season.
• The Trojans were bidding to put together a four-game win streak for the first time since the 2014-15 campaign.
• AU committed 15 turnovers, but forced Tusculum into 18 turnovers on the afternoon.
• The Pioneers have won five of their last six games.
• The Trojans are 16-5 all-time against the Pioneers.
UP NEXT
The Trojans will play host to Wingate, Wednesday at the Abney Athletic Center. Tip-off versus the Bulldogs in the Electric City is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
