Wednesday, January 30, 2008

 

GORE HITS WINNING BUCKET WITH 0.3 SECONDS LEFT AS LIONS RALLY TO BEAT TUSCULUM, 62-61

 

                GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- P.J. Gore’s lay-up with 0.3 seconds gave Mars Hill the lead for the first and only time as the Lions edged host Tusculum, 62-61 Wednesday night at Pioneer Arena in South Atlantic Conference men’s basketball action.

 

                The Lions (8-10, 3-4 SAC) extend their winning streak to three in row, while the Pioneers fall to 8-11, 2-5 SAC.

 

                Jordan Skinner led all scorers with 23 points off the bench for the Lions, including 14-of-15 from the free throw line.  Jamarl Glenn added 14 markers, while Gore tallied five points, including the winning basket.

 

Kyle Moore                Tusculum’s Kyle Moore posted 21 points, including five 3-pointers, while Jordan Lear added 14 points and seven rebounds in the loss.

 

                The contest was plagued by a combined 55 personal fouls (TC 31, MHC 24), which saw four players foul out (TC 3, MHC 1), including Tusculum starters Lear and Lavonti Jeter.

 

                The Lions trailed throughout the entire contest, with Tusculum holding its largest lead at 40-26 with 16 minutes remaining in the game.  TC held a 55-46 advantage with 3:07 left, following a jumper by Ryan Troutman with the shot clock running down.  MHC trimmed the deficit to three (55-49) when Moton drained a three-pointer with 2:32 remaining in the contest.

 

                With Tusculum leading 59-54, the Lions trimmed the TC advantage to one (59-58) thanks to four straight free throws by Skinner, including the last pair with 55.2 seconds left.

 

                Moore was fouled and the sophomore made two free throws to move the Pioneers back out to a three-point lead (61-58).  Glen was fouled for Mars Hill and he canned his two free throws with 45 seconds left to bring MHC back to within one (61-60).

 

                Tusculum worked the clock down to 22.2 seconds and called a timeout near midcourt, but on the ensuing inbounds pass, the Pioneers were whistled for five seconds, turning the ball over to the Lions.  After a MHC timeout, the Lions worked for the last shot as Glen dribbled to the lane and dished off the ball to a streaking Gore from the right side and made the lay-up with less than a second remaining.               

 

                The Pioneers attempted to draw a foul on the in-bounds pass, but none was called as Skinner stole the pass to seal the victory.

 

                Tusculum shot 44 percent from the floor, while limiting the Lions to 28 percent, including 5-of-28 (18%) in the first half as the Pioneers led 32-21 at the break.

 

                The Lions shot 24-for-31 from the free throw line, while making its final six charity stripe attempts in the final 88 seconds.

 

                The Pioneers committed 23 turnovers, including 11 on TC offensive fouls.

 

                Tusculum returns to action Saturday when the Pioneers host SAC leader Lenoir-Rhyne for a 4 p.m. contest.  Mars Hill will be at Brevard on Saturday for a 4 p.m. non-conference match-up.

 

- TC -