Daniel records season-high six blocks on road versus Eagles
The Mars Hill men's basketball team (1-13, 1-13 SAC) was downed by a score of 76-56 on the road Wednesday evening versus Carson-Newman (12-5, 10-5 SAC).
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - The Mars Hill men's basketball team (1-13, 1-13 SAC) was downed by a score of 76-56 on the road Wednesday evening versus Carson-Newman (12-5, 10-5 SAC).
The first half saw a low scoring, defensive affair for both squads. Isayah Johnson tied the game at five with 4:24 played in the half. Back-to-back threes for the Eagles were the catalyst for a 13-2 run, bumping their lead up to 18-7 with just over 11 minutes to play. The Lions, with threes from Reggie Wright, Javonte Cooke, and answering a Ren Dyer three-pointer, Trey Belin, knocked the deficit down to five.
Belin's make was the last field goal the Lions made in the first half until Austin Gilyard's driving layup with under a minute to play.
Throughout the half, the duo of Nassyr Daniel and Justus Shelton dominated down low, combining for seven blocks and eight rebounds. Cooke led the Lions with nine points and added five rebounds in the opening half.
In a much more offensive second half, both teams picked up their shooting as Carson-Newman hit over 58 percent of their shots while the Lions hit over 44 percent. The Eagles hit six threes in the half, including Camden McElhaney's with 9:07 left to play to balloon their lead to 29 points, 59-30.
Tyler Bowens led all players in the second half with nine points while EJ Bush and Dmitrii Bykov added seven apiece. David Elkins hit all four field goal attempts in the half for eight points and Rajuan Conner went 3-of-5 from the floor, including two three-pointers, for eight points.
Cooke led all players with 15 points while Daniel collected six rebounds and six blocks. Dyer led the Eagles with 12 points followed by Bush and Owens' 11 points each.
Mars Hill turns around on Thursday, February 18 as they host the Eagles inside Chambers Gymnasium. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.