Saturday, December 1, 2007

 

LEAR SCORES 33, PIONEERS BEAT BREVARD 75-64

 

Jordan Lear                BREVARD, N.C. --- Jordan Lear poured in a career-high 33 points as Tusculum College defeated host Brevard College 75-64 Saturday afternoon in men's basketball action at Boshamer Gymnasium.

 

                Lear shot 11-for-17 from the floor, including 7-of-13 three three-point territory.  Kyle Moore finished with 14 markers, including 11-of-11 shooting at the free throw line, while Jimmy Boone accounted for 10 points.  Lavonti Jeter tallied eight points and six rebounds, while Darren Hobbs added six points and a game-high seven boards.

 

                The Pioneers (2-4) jumped out in front on a Jimmy Boone 3-pointer and would lead wire-to-wire.  Tusculum opened the contest with a 13-4 spurt, including a three-pointer by Moore and a lay-up by Rob Zalucki.

 

                BC (1-5) answered with five straight points from Jonathan Whitson over the next two minutes to trim the deficit to 13-9 at the 11:01 mark of the first half.  Whitson would finish the game with 21 points on 8-for-16 shooting.

 

                Tusculum moved its advantage back to eight points, following a lay-up by Hobbs with five minutes left before halftime (24-16).  The Tornados made one final surge before heading into the locker room as Shane Galloway canned a 3-pointer with 25 seconds left in the period to trail 30-28.  TC got a 17-foot fade away jumper on the baseline by Ryan Troutman at the buzzer as the Pioneers led 32-28 at the break.

 

                After a Whitson lay-up to trim the TC lead to two points (32-30) to start the second half, Lear drained another three-pointer and Hobbs made a driving lay-up to move the Pioneers ahead by seven (37-30) with 17:03 remaining in the game.

 

                Brevard trailed 47-43 with 10 minutes left following a bucket by Jermichael Tanner.  Tusculum made its biggest run of the afternoon, going on a 10-2 spurt over the next 3:20.  Lear drained a long-range three-pointer, while Jeter responded with two thunderous dunks.  Lear finished off the run with a three-pointer at the 6:40 mark to lead 57-45.

 

                BC would cut the lead to seven on two more occasions, but that's as close as they would get as Tusculum used an 11-4 run thanks to 11 straight free throws, including a pair by Lear with 37 seconds remaining to give TC a 14-point cushion (73-59), its biggest lead of the day.

 

                The Pioneers shot 17-for-19 from the charity stripe, including 13 in a row in the second half to finish the contest.

 

                Tusculum shot 49 percent from the floor, including a sizzling 57.1 percent in the second half, including 5-of-7 from beyond the arc.

 

                Tusculum continues its seven-game road swing on Wednesday when the Pioneers travel to NCAA Division I Elon University for a 7 p.m. contest.

 

- TC -