Men’s Basketball Defeats Tusculum

MARS HILL, N.C. - Noble Cunningham came off the bench to score a team-high 14 points as Mars Hill College defeated Tusculum College 63-57 in a South Atlantic Conference men's basketball matchup Saturday afternoon at Stanford Arena.

Just six players scored for the Lions (4-13, 2-6 SAC), but four of them reached double figures to help Mars Hill defeat the Pioneers. Sammy Emile, who leads Division II in scoring average at 26.6 points per game, managed just 10 points but saw teammates Khouraichi Thiam (13) and Austin Patton (11) join him in double figures in the contest. Thiam added nine rebounds.

Kevin Vest led the Pioneers (7-9, 4-4 SAC) with 23 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, but Tusculum committed 21 turnovers and shot just 11-for-17 (64.7 percent) from the foul line in the game. Justin Steigerwald added 11 points and four assists.

In a game that had 12 ties and five lead changes, it was the Lions that took the lead for good at 57-55 on two foul shots by Emile with 1:10 left. Tusculum had taken a 55-53 lead on two free throws by Nicholas Spinks with 2:46 to play, but the Lions' JaShawn Anderson drained two at the line to knot the score at 55-all with 2:15 left.

Trailing by two, the Pioneers missed on a 3-point attempt and Patton made one free throw with 35.5 seconds left to give Mars Hill a 58-55 lead. Anderson and Vest each went 1-for-2 from the line on back-to-back possessions as Mars Hill maintained a three-point lead at 60-57 with 21.2 to play, but Anderson hit two foul shots after a Pioneer turnover for a 62-57 Lions lead with 20.7 left and Cunningham added the final point on a free throw with 12.6 on the clock.

The game was tied five times in the first eight minutes before Tusculum scored seven straight points to take a 22-16 lead on a dunk by Steigerwald with 7:29 left in the first half. Mars Hill responded with an 11-2 run to go on top 27-24 following a layup by Cunningham with 2:26 left in the half.

The Lions then broke a 27-27 tie with seven straight points in the final minute of the half, capped by a three-pointer by Cunningham just before the buzzer after a turnover by the Pioneers. Mars Hill led 34-27 at intermission despite allowing Tusculum to shoot 54.5 percent (12-for-22) from the field in the half. Tusculum would slump off to 40 percent (10-for-25) in the second half to finish at 46.8 percent for the game.

Cunningham led the Lions with 11 points, including a 3-for-3 effort from three-point range, while Vest and Steigerwald shared the scoring lead for the Pioneers with eight points apiece in the first half. Tusculum had 14 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes, leading to 17 points for Mars Hill.

Mars Hill took its largest lead of the game at 36-27 following a dunk by Thiam on the first possession of the second half, but the Pioneers responded with an 11-2 run to tie the game at 38-38 on two free throws by Vest with 15:40 left. The Lions built their lead back up to five, but the Pioneers fought back yet again and evened the contest at 47-47 on a putback by Anton Tuz with 9:00 to play.

Mars Hill will host Catawba College on Wednesday night. Tip-off in Stanford Arena is set for 8 p.m.