Wednesday, December 5, 2007

 

TUSCULUM GOES WIRE-TO-WIRE TO DEFEAT ELON 74-60

 

Kyle Moore                ELON, N.C. --- The Tusculum College men’s basketball team jumped out to a 17-point lead at the half and held off a furious rally as the Pioneers defeated NCAA Division I Elon University, 74-60 Wednesday night at Alumni Gym.

 

                Kyle Moore paced the Tusculum attack with 23 points, including a dozen markers coming in the first half as the Pioneers led 39-22 at intermission.

 

                Tusculum (3-4) led wire-to-wire for a second straight game as the Pioneers scored the first eight points of the contest, including three-pointers by Moore and Jordan Lear in the opening three minutes.  Lear finished with 18 points, while Jimmy Boone added 13 markers.

 

                Tusculum finished with 13 three-pointers as the Pioneers shot 61.9 percent from beyond the arc.  Moore led TC going 5-for-8 from downtown, while dishing out five assists.

 

                The Pioneers used a 13-4 spurt later in the half, including consecutive three-pointers by Moore which moved TC ahead 28-12 at the 7:44 mark of the opening period.  TC took its largest lead of the game as time expired at halftime when Ryan Troutman drained a 23-footer at the buzzer for a 17-point lead at the break.

 

                In the second half, Elon fought back with a 10-0 run in the opening 2:30, including six points by Devan Carter, including his three-point play as the Phoenix trailed 39-32.

 

                Tusculum jumped back out to a 10-point lead as Boone connected on a three-pointer from the left wing as TC led 46-36 with 14:45 remaining.

 

                Elon used a 13-6 run to cut the deficit to three (52-49) with 8:43 left after a lay-up by Adam Constantine.

 

                Moore thwarted the run with seven straight points, including a critical three-pointer from 25-feet away as the shot clock expired, moving TC up 59-51 with five minutes remaining in the contest.

 

                Boone and Troutman followed with back-to-back three-pointers as Tusculum led by double-digits again at 65-51 with 2:23 left on the clock.

 

                Ola Atoyebi led the Phoenix (4-4) going 10-for-16 from the floor as he finished with 25 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.  Chris Long added 18 points, while Carter contributed 11 points off the bench.

 

                Lear led TC’s rebounding efforts with nine rebounds, while Troutman accounted for eight points and five assists.

 

                The Pioneers finished the game shooting 49 percent from the floor, including a sizzling 13-for-22 (59%) in the first 20 minutes.  Tusculum limited Elon to 37.7 percent shooting, including 3-for-21 from three-point land.

 

                The win was Tusculum’s first over a D-I opponent in the modern era of basketball.  The Pioneers return to action Saturday as they travel to Concord University for a 4 p.m. contest at Carter Gym.

 

- TC -