Brooks' last second heroics push Lions past Pioneers

MARS HILL, N.C. – Ja'Shawn Brooks' last second heroics downs Tusculum (10-5, 5-2 SAC) by a score of 67-66 to give the Mars Hill men's basketball team (7-6, 5-2 SAC) their first home win of the new decade.

Following a Tariq Jenkins layup with two seconds remaining to put Tusculum up by two, Brooks caught a lobbed pass just inside half court.  After two steps and being surrounded by three Pioneer defenders, the South Atlantic Conference's leading scorer floated the ball into the net with 0.4 second left on the clock and clinch the Lions' victory.

Mars Hill dictated play in the first half, ending the first 20 minutes of play up by nine in a rather low scoring affair.  Although neither team shot exceptionally well from the floor, Mars Hill's six three-pointers and 70 percent from the free throw line put them up 33-24 after the first half.  The Lions' defense played a vital part all throughout the victory, but in the first half, created 12 turnovers and forced Tusculum into foul trouble that would play a part later in the game.

Brooks led the Lions with 10 points, followed by Austin Gilyard's seven.  Javonte Cooke added six from the bench.  Tusculum's Trenton Gibson led the Pioneers with eight points after the first half.

The second half of play saw Tusculum take control in the final five minutes of play and earn their first lead of the contest with 40 seconds remaining.  Prior to the Pioneers taking the late advantage, with just under four minutes to play, Tusculum reeled off 10 straight points over the next couple of minutes to tie the game at 59 with 1:20 left to play.  Dillon Smith was responsible for six of those points.

Smith provided the lead after being fouled on a three-point attempt with his team down by two.  Hitting all three free throws, Smith gave the Pioneers the lead with under a minute to play.  Brandon Mitchell followed up by hitting both of his free throw attempts 14 seconds later to go up by three.

Matthew Powell, with under 20 seconds to play, drilled a three-pointer from the corner to tie the game at 64, but Tusculum's Jenkins landed a driving layup with five seconds left on the clock.  

Brooks, following his career-high 35 points versus Wingate, played hero to the Lions and ended the contest with a game-high 17 points.  Both Gilyard and Cooke ended the game with 12 points while Nassyr Daniel added 10 on the night.

The Lions look to continue their momentum with a Saturday afternoon tilt versus the Trojans of Anderson University.  Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. inside Stanford Arena.