MARS HILL, N.C. --- Tusculum University hit four straight three-pointers during a 25-5 run midway through the second half and held on for a 73-72 victory over Mars Hill University in South Atlantic Conference men's basketball at Stanford Arena Wednesday night.
Josiah Morris hit three consecutive threes during the run and finished with 15 points for the Pioneers (8-10, 6-6 SAC), who trailed 53-41 with 14:57 left but fought back to within 58-55 with 7:01 to play before Morris hit three from long range in a span of 1 minute, 21 seconds to give the Pioneers a 64-58 lead with 4:55 left.
Jacob Hobbs led the Pioneers with a season-high 17 points and Travis Pourciau posted his first double-double with 11 points and a season-high 12 rebounds off the bench for Tusculum, which led 71-64 with two minutes left only to see Mars Hill pull within one point on two occasions in the final 90 seconds.
Kory Davis led the Lions (2-16, 1-10 SAC) with 23 points and Kadyn Dawkins had 20 points and a game-high seven assists. Caleb Mauldin added 11 points and five rebounds for the Lions, who shot nearly 54 percent from the field in the first half but cooled off to 34.6 percent (9-for-26) in the second half.
Morris tied his season high with five three-pointers in six attempts for the Pioneers, who were 9-for-18 from beyond the arc in the game including 6-for-11 in the second half. Tusculum shot 42.9 percent (27-for-63) from the field as a team, but scored 26 points off 15 Mars Hill turnovers for its eighth straight win in the series and 15th in the last 16 meetings with the Lions.
With the victory, Tusculum head coach JT Burton moved into second place on the Pioneer career coaching win list with 92, passing Folly Malone who had 91 wins between 1976 and 1983. Burton, who was coaching his 400th career game at the college level, has now seen his Tusculum teams rally from double-figure deficits to win 17 times among his 92 victories.
Tusculum dashed to an early 8-2 lead behind three-pointers from Hobbs and Morris, but Mars Hill went on an 8-0 run to take a 15-14 lead on two free throws from Dawkins with 11:55 left in the first half. The teams swapped the lead several times over the next eight minutes before the Lions went on a 6-0 run to go up 32-27 on a Dawkins layup with 3:41 to go. Mars Hill took its largest lead of the half at 38-30 on a dunk by Marvin Hires with 2:09 to play, and a three-pointer from Dawkins just before the half put the Lions on top 41-34 at intermission.
Dawkins had 16 points and four assists in the first half for Mars Hill, while Mauldin added nine points. As a team, the Lions shot 15-for-28 (53.6 percent) from the floor in the half. Akeem Odusipe was the top scorer for the Pioneers in the first half with eight points on 4-for-4 shooting, while Pourciau had seven points and a team-high four rebounds. Tusculum shot 46.2 percent (12-for-26) as a team in the half.
Mars Hill stretched its lead to double digits at 48-37 following two free throws by Davis with 17:24 left, but four straight points from Hobbs brought Tusculum back within 48-41. The Lions took their largest lead of the night at 53-41 on a three-pointer from Davis with 14:57 remaining, but Mars Hill missed its next six shots as the Pioneers crept within 53-50 on a jumper by Connor Jordan with 10:00 left.
The Lions led 58-52 following a foul shot by London Maiden with 7:32 left when the Pioneers caught fire from long range. Bryce Jackson made a three to bring Tusculum within 58-55 with 7:01 to go. After a turnover by Davis, Morris made the tying three-pointer with 6:16 left. Mars Hill would turn the ball over on each of its next three possessions, with Morris hitting two more threes to put the Pioneers in front 64-58 with 4:55 on the clock.
Mars Hill would cut the Tusculum lead to 68-64 on a three-point play by Davis with 3:24 to go, but Morris made his fifth three with 2:30 remaining to give the Pioneers a 71-64 advantage. Tusculum would turn the ball over on its next two possessions and the Lions climbed back within 71-70 following two free throws from Davis with 1:30 to play.
Jackson sank two foul shots with 1:25 left to give Tusculum a 73-70 lead, and Davis responded with a putback to bring the Lions back to within 73-72 with 57 seconds to play. Tusculum missed two shots on its next possession, leaving Mars Hill with a chance at the win. However, the Lions' possession broke down and Xavier Meekins missed a hurried three-pointer from the wing with one second left, allowing the Pioneers to run out the clock.
Jordan finished with eight points and four rebounds for the Pioneers, while Odusipe reached double figures with 10 points along with four boards on 5-for-5 shooting. Jackson was 6-for-8 at the foul line and had nine points along with five assists for the Pioneers, who received seven rebounds off the bench from TJ Printup.
Hires had eight points and five rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench for the Lions, while Holden tallied seven points and six rebounds in 25 minutes. Tusculum finished the game with a 40-34 rebound advantage over Mars Hill.
The Pioneers are back home on Saturday, Feb. 3 to face Newberry at Pioneer Arena. The Wolves (5-12, 4-8 SAC) beat the Pioneers at home 79-60 in the first meeting of the season between the teams on Dec. 18, and will look to bounce back from a 72-59 loss at Anderson on Wednesday night.
