Jimmy Boone drives for two of his 16 points in Monday's win over St. Catharine

Boone Scores 16, Defense Shines in 61-44 Win over Patriots

Box Score

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Jimmy Boone accounted for a game-high 16 points, while the Pioneers played a stifling defense in Tusculum College’s 61-44 win over visiting St. Catharine College, Monday night at Pioneer Arena in men’s basketball action.

Boone went 4-for-5 from the floor, 2-of-3 from the beyond the arc and 6-for-6 from the charity stripe as he led four Tusculum players in double figures.  Wes Taylor tallied 13 points, while Kyle Moore and Josh Bennett finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Kris Caulfield led St. Catharine with his team-best 10 points, to go along with three assists and three steals.  Rainier Rickards added eight points, while Ervin Williams accounted for six points, a dozen shy of his 18.0 ppg average.

Tusculum (4-4) limited the high-scoring Patriots (10-3) to only 44 points, which is 36 points below their seasonal average (80.3 ppg) and the second fewest markers allowed by a Tusculum team during the Coach Jim Boone era (2005-present).  TC allowed 42 points against Newberry on Feb. 14, 2007.

Tusculum capitalized at the free throw stripe as the Pioneers went 29-of-35 from the free throw line (82.9%), including 15-of-16 in the first half as TC led 31-14 at the break.

The Pioneers, who led wire-to-wire, opened the game on a 14-4 run, including eight points by Boone and a three-point play by Moore.  TC followed that with a 17-4 spurt over a 10-minute span as the Pioneers took its largest lead at 31-8 with 3:29 remaining in the half.

St. Catharine, who opened the season with a seven-game winning streak and winners of 10 of its first 12, would not go away.  The Patriots scored seven straight points early in the second half to cut the deficit to 33-23 with 15:20 left in the game.   TC answered with a 5-0 run, all scored by Bennett, who contributed a three-point play during the spurt as the Pioneer led 38-23 with 13:01 remaining.

Tusculum maintained its double-digit lead for the rest of the night as the Patriots would cut the deficit to 13 points on a couple of occasions.

The Pioneers won the battle of the boards by a 31-22 margin.  St. Catharine entered the game ranked sixth in the country (NAIA Division II) in rebounding margin (12.42).  TC shot 48.4 percent from the floor on the night, while limiting the Patriots to 31 percent shooting, including 6-of-24 in the first half (25%).

Tusculum’s Rob Troutman added seven points and a game-high seven rebounds in the win.  Troutman shot 5-for-5 from the free throw line, matching Taylor’s 5-for-5 night at the charity stripe.

Tusculum continues its three-game home-stand on Wednesday as the Pioneers host Lees-McRae College for a 7 p.m. contest.

- TC -