Saturday, February 3, 2007

JETER SCORES WINNING BASKET WITH THREE SECONDS REMAINING, TUSCULUM BEATS LMU 61-58 IN SAC THRILLER

Lavanti Jeter scored the winning basket with 3 seconds left in 61-58 win over LMU

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Lavanti Jeter scored the winning basket on a rebound and put-back with three seconds remaining as Tusculum College rallied to defeat South Atlantic Conference foe Lincoln Memorial University 61-58 Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Arena.

Tusculum (10-11, 3-7 SAC) ends a three-game losing streak and avenges last month's loss to the Railsplitters (11-9, 5-5 SAC) to split the season series.

Chris Poore led the Pioneers with 24 points on 10-of-19 shooting from the floor and grabbed five rebounds. Jeter added a season-best 11 points off the bench, while Gabe Story and Larry Minnefee added nine and seven points, respectively.

LMU's Artavius Mitchell was stellar on the day with his 20 points, shooting 8-for-10 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the free line. Beau Brown added 15 points, while Delroy Burke finished with 10 points in the loss.

Brown converted a three-point play with 1:23 remaining in the game to give the Railsplitters a 58-57 advantage. Tusculum's next possession yielded a missed shot as LMU came up with the rebound with under a minute to play. The Railsplitters milked the clock, but were whistled for a shot clock violation with 20 seconds remaining.

Tusculum worked for a final shot as Poore was fouled with five seconds remaining, sending the Greeneville senior to the line. Poore missed both free throws, but Jeter came up with the critical rebound and scored the go ahead basket with three seconds left on the clock.

LMU's in bounds pass went out of bounds, giving the ball back to Tusculum. Minnefee was fouled with 0.7 seconds left as he made both free throws to seal the victory.

Lincoln Memorial jumped out of the gate in the opening half, using a 22-6 run to take a 28-16 lead at the 6:37 mark of the first period, following a three-point play by Mitchell.

Tusculum followed with a 13-1 run itself to knot the game at 29-29 following a jumper by Poore with 1:45 left in the half. LMU got a lay-up by Ronnie Jones and a pair of free throws from Mitchell as the Railsplitters took a 34-31 lead into the locker room.

LMU scored the first five points of the second stanza, including Brown's three-pointer at the 17:12 mark to move out to a 39-31 advantage.

Tusculum wouldn't go away and tied the game at 43-43 on Tyler White's 12-foot jumper with 10:41 left in regulation. The game was thriller down the stretch as the game was tied nine times, while the lead exchanged hands on 11 occasions on the day.

Tusculum will host Catawba College on Wednesday night at 8 p.m., while LMU is back at Tex Turner Arena to host Presbyterian College for an 8 p.m. contest.

- TC -