GREENEVILLE—The Carson-Newman Eagles (9-2, 2-1 South Atlantic Conference) men's basketball team defeated the Tusculum Pioneers (2-9, 1-2 South Atlantic Conference) by a score of 67-56 at Pioneer Arena on Wednesday night.

The Eagles were led in scoring by Antoine Davis with his 17 points as the Eagles have won two straight against the rival Pioneers. Davis was joined in double figures by Ish Sanders, with his 16 points and Cody Henegar added 11 points and two three-pointers for Carson-Newman.

“Conference wins are always great, conference road wins are the best, so we got that done,” said Carson-Newman head coach Chuck Benson. “However I'm not pleased with how we played, especially on the offensive side of the ball. I thought defensively we did some good things, we rebounded the ball well, but offensively I was really disappointed in our execution.”

The Eagles and Pioneers played a low-scoring first half. Davis powered Carson-Newman on a 4-0 run in the final minute of the first half to give the Eagles a 25-22 lead going into the locker room.

The Eagles got off to a hot start in the second half. Carson-Newman used a pair of runs to open up a 51-40 lead with 8:58 to play.

Tusculum would respond, going on an 11-4 run to cut the lead to four points with 2:39 to play. The Eagles would then go on a 7-0 run to go up 62-51 with 1:30 to play.

The Eagles held strong in the final minute and a half to finish the game with an 11-point victory, improving Carson-Newman to 2-1 in conference play.

The Eagles had the rebound advantage 38-28 and Carson-Newman also scored 38 points in the paint.  Tusculum was led in scoring by Keith Jumper with his game-high 20 points and Nick Spinks who added 16 points and hit four three-pointers for the Pioneers.

TC women rally in second half

The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles basketball team (7-3, 1-2 South Atlantic Conference) saw a second-half surge from the Tusculum Pioneers (8-3, 2-1 South Atlantic Conference) that gave the Pioneers a 55-51 victory at Pioneer Arena on Wednesday night.

Carson-Newman led at halftime by 12 points, yet the Lady Eagles were outscored 34-18 in the second half by the Pioneers. Carson-Newman junior Shyra Clark posted a career-high 17 points in the loss.

“There wasn't a whole lot of positives from us in the second half,” said Carson-Newman head coach Mike Mincey. “We only scored 18 in the second half when we were up 12 and you have a chance to win on the road, just a really poor effort overall.”

The Lady Eagles held the Pioneers to 25 percent shooting from the field in the first half, and led at halftime 33-21.

Tusculum got the second half off to a quick start, going on a 15-3 run to tie the game at 36 with 12:44 left in the game. The game remained tight throughout the final seven minutes. The Lady Eagles trailed by only two with 1:40 to play. Missed free throws by the Pioneers allowed Carson-Newman to stay in the game, however Tusculum would pull away by a pair of made free throws by Breaira Barksdale and Baxter with 11 seconds to play.

Carson-Newman committed a season-high 26 turnovers in the loss, with six of the turnovers on Clark.