GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum Pioneers will close out the pre-holiday portion of its schedule this week with a pair of South Atlantic Conference contests. The Pioneers will host Newberry on Wednesday before traveling to Lenoir-Rhyne for a Saturday afternoon contest.

Tusculum (5-4, 5-2 SAC) dropped out of the top spot of the league standings following a 92-75 loss at Wingate on Saturday. The Pioneers, who had won its first five conference games, have dropped their last two and slip into a tie for second place in the SAC.

Tusculum held an early 5-2 lead, but surrendered a 20-2 run to Wingate including 16 unanswered points by the Bulldogs. The Pioneers trailed by as many as 26, but would cut the deficit to 12, midway in the second half before the rally puttered out. Trenton Gibson led the way for TU with 22 points for his third straight 20-point outing and fifth of the season. Justin Mitchell added a season-high 17 points, while Brandon Mitchell contributed 10 markers and a game-high eight rebounds.

Following Saturday's game with Lenoir-Rhyne, the Pioneers will not see game action until 18 days later when they host Wingate for a rematch on Jan. 5 in Greeneville.

SCOUTING THE PIONEERS

Following the fall semester finals week and a road trip to Wingate, the Pioneers return to a normal week with a pair of league outings for head coach J.T. Burton. This week's slate against Newberry and Lenoir-Rhyne will feature teams the Pioneers only played once during the COVID abbreviated 2020-21 campaign.

Gibson continues to be Tusculum's top scoring threat averaging 21.7 points per game which are second in the league and 23^rd in NCAA Division II. He is averaging 24.3 points per contest over the past three games, while shooting 12-of-26 from three-point territory (46.2%) and averaging four triples per contest during that span.

The 2021 SAC Player of the Year is tops on the team in rebounding averaging 5.9 boards per contest (14^th in SAC) and is dishing out a team-best 4.0 assists per game (9^th in SAC). His 2.1 three-pointers made per game average is 12^th in the league and is shooting 80.4 percent from the free throw line (11^th in SAC).

Gibson has moved to 13^th on Tusculum's all-time scoring list with 1,342 career points during his 88-game career. He needs eight more points to eclipse former All-SMAC and All-VSAC standout Bob Miles (1,349 from 1958-1962) for 12^th place. Gibson is closing in on some personal milestones. His next field goal attempt will be the 1,000^th of his career. He also needs four 3-pointers to eclipse 100 treys at Tusculum.

Vedder is second on the team averaging 12.1 points per outing, while grabbing 5.8 rebounds per game (16^th in SAC). He is also shooting 54.3 percent from the floor (11^th in SAC). The Virginia State transfer has accounted for a pair of double-doubles this season and has three for his career. Including his three seasons at VSU, where the Trojans advanced to the NCAA II Tournament each season, Vedder has scored in double figures 20 times, which includes six times this year at Tusculum.

Sophomore Inady Legiste is third on the roster averaging 10.1 points per game and is second on the team shooting 55.4 percent from the floor (10^th in SAC), including 5-of-9 from three-point territory (55.6%). He scored 18 points against No. 15 Lincoln Memorial in his last outing, but was held to six points on Saturday at Wingate. His 1.67 blocked shots per game average is third-best in the conference and 40^th in the country. He is averaging 3.33 blocks per game in his last three contests and has posted two or more rejections in all but one outing this season. Legiste is also averaging 4.1 rebounds per game.

Justin Mitchell is fourth on the club with his 8.7 points per game and is third on the team pulling down 5.6 boards per game (19^th in SAC). He is the only player on this year's team to have started in all nine games this season.

True freshman KJ Crump is averaging 8.0 points and 1.9 rebounds per game. His 1.89 assists per game average is second on the team and is shooting 45.7 percent from three-point land (16-of-35). His best outing of his young TU career came with his 18-point performance in the Pioneers' road win at then No. 4 Queens.

Graduate student Brandon Mitchell enters this week's action with a team-best 114 career games under his belt. He is Tusculum's all-time leader with 180 blocked shots, which are 10th in the SAC record book and the most by an active Division II player. His 667 career rebounds are the seventh-most in school history including 295 offensive rebounds which are the fourth-most in conference history. This year, he is averaging 7.0 points and 5.4 rebounds per game (20^th in SAC). He went 7-of-7 from the floor for his 15 points in the Queens game, while also grabbing 11 rebounds for his 11th career double-double.

Junior transfers Jalen Crowder and Jacob Hobbs have been making contributions in their inaugural Tusculum campaigns. Crowder, who transferred from Caldwell Tech, is averaging 3.8 points and 1.2 rebounds per contest. His 11-point effort at Catawba last month has been his best TU outing to date. Hobbs, who played his first two collegiate campaigns at Division I Lipscomb University, is averaging 2.2 points and 2.2 rebounds per game this season, and has appeared in all nine games this year including three starts.

SCOUTING NEWBERRY

The Newberry Wolves are arguably the hottest team in the conference as the Scarlet & Gray are riding a four-game winning streak including Saturday's 55-51 defensive battle with visiting Carson-Newman.

The Wolves (4-5, 4-3 SAC) opened the season with five straight losses including an 0-3 league start. Newberry dropped home losses to UNC Pembroke and Johnson C. Smith, before dropping SAC decisions to Mars Hill (76-75), Limestone (62-59) and Wingate (89-57). But since then, the Wolves have rattled off victories against Anderson (82-71), UVA Wise (79-58), No. 11 Queens (67-65) and Carson-Newman. The 4-3 record has Newberry tied for fifth place.

Junior forward Quandaveon McCollom leads the Wolves scoring and rebounding efforts averaging 14.9 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. He poured in a career-high 31 points against Mars Hill last month and posted 20 markers and 12 rebounds in Saturday's win over Carson-Newman for his fourth double-double of the season.

Junior guard TJ Brown is second on the team averaging 11.0 points per game, while also grabbing 3.9 boards per contest.  Senior guard Marcus Ford is third on the roster with his 10.9 points per game, while also dishing out a team-best 3.6 assists per outing.

The Wolves boast the No. 2 scoring defense in the league allowing just 70.3 points per game including 67.4 ppg in league play.

SCOUTING LENOIR-RHYNE

The Lenoir-Rhyne Bears enter this week with a 3-5 record including 2-3 in SAC play. The Bears opened the season with a loss to NCAA Tournament participant Emmanuel but followed with a 94-86 win over Young Harris. L-R opened SAC play with a pair of wins over Wingate and Coker, but have dropped three in a row to Limestone, Carson-Newman and Saturday's 91-89 loss at Catawba.

Sophomore guard Jalen Johnson is averaging 14.3 points per game and 4.8 assists per contest, while senior Kevin Kangu is contributing 13 ppg.

The Bears entering the week second in the conference in three-point field goals made per game averaging 9.8 treys per contest. Their 10.1 turnovers made per game are the fewest in the league while also committing the fewest fouls in the conference at 13.6 per contest.

THE SERIES

Wednesday will be the 47^th meeting between Tusculum and Newberry in a series which began in 1978. The series is currently tied at 23-23 with TU winning four of the last five meetings and five of the last seven encounters. The Wolves won last year's lone meeting in a 73-66 victory at Newberry. The return encounter was canceled due to the COVID pandemic. The last six meetings have been decided by 10 points or less with two of those going into overtime.

The Tusculum / Lenoir-Rhyne series dates back to Jan. 13, 1926. This will be the 53^rd meeting between the Pioneers and the Bears. L-R owns a 31-21 edge in the series but the Pioneers have won the last three meetings including last year's 78-67 decision in Greeneville in the regular season finale. TU has won only six times at Shuford Gymnasium in Hickory including a 77-70 triumph in 2020 in their last trip to the Hickory, North Carolina campus.

TICKETS

Admission for 2021-22 Tusculum home basketball games is $10 for all entrants and children 12 and under will be admitted free. Tusculum students will be admitted free and valid Tusculum ID is required. Fans may purchase tickets online in advance through HomeTown Ticketing at www.TusculumPioneers.com/information/tickets. Spectators using HomeTown Ticketing can choose to print tickets at home or use mobile entry tickets at the gate.

FOLLOW THE PIONEERS

Fans can watch the action of Tusculum basketball all season at TusculumPioneers.com on the Pioneer Sports Network and the SAC Digital Network. The radio call of the games will also be available locally on WSMG Radio on 95.5 FM and 1450 AM, as well as online at https://jewel955.com/listenlive.