Men’s Basketball Defeats Tusculum

MARS HILL, N.C. - The Lions' men's basketball team defeated visiting Tusculum College, 76-72, Saturday evening in Stanford Arena. Carter Wright paced the Lions with 24 points three rebounds and the same number of assists.

Khouraichi Thiam posted his fifteenth double-double on the year with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Jalen Witherspoon came off the bench to score 13; Myles Tate added 12 and Will White scored 10 in the win. MHC (4-20/1-15 SAC) received 20 points from their bench and made only nine turnovers in the victory.

Neal Spinks led the Pioneers (6-18/4-12 SAC) with 16 points and six boards. Darius Carter followed with 15 points and six rebounds while Addison Flynn added 14 points. Nick Spinks rounded out the double-digit scorers with 13. Tusculum converted on only 45.5% (10-22) of their free throws in the game.

In the first half, neither team led by more than five points during the first 13 minutes of play. A Myles Tate 3-pointer gave the Lions their largest lead of the period of eight points (33-25) with 5:42 left in the first frame. Tusculum went on a 12-6 run to close out the half and send the teams into the locker room at halftime with MHC ahead, 39-37.

A Kacey Holt jumper at the 15:44 mark gave the Lions a one-point lead (48-47) they would not relinquish. After leading by seven points (64-57) with 10:03 on the clock, the Pioneers scored seven unanswered points to tie the contest at 64-all. The Lions outscored Tusculum, 10-3 over the next seven minutes to lead 74-67 with 2:44 left in regulation after Wright hit a shot from behind the arc.

An Addison Flynn 3-pointer trimmed the Lions lead to just two points (74-72) with 1:07 on the clock. Will White missed a 3-pointer and Tusculum had a chance to tie or take the lead but Nick Spinks' long range jumper missed its mark. The Pioneers regained the ball after it deflected off a MHC defender and with 17 ticks left the Pioneers called a timeout. Darius Carter missed his attempt with eight seconds left and Thiam corralled the rebound. Wright was fouled after receiving the in-bounds pass and calmly sank a pair of free throws to make the final tally, 76-72.

MHC will play at Lenoir-Rhyne University on February 27. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.