GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tusculum junior Malachi Hale poured in a game-high 21 points off the bench to lead the Pioneers to a 92-82 South Atlantic Conference win over visiting Emory & Henry Wednesday night at Pioneer Arena in men's basketball action.
Tusculum (5-17, 5-13 SAC) gained a split in the season series with the Wasps (5-17, 3-15 SAC) while ending a four-game losing streak. TU knocked down a season-high 13 three-pointers including four by Hale as he recorded his sixth 20-point performance of the year.
The Pioneers led wire-to-wire and led by as many as 18 points in the second half. Tusculum led 79-63 with four minutes remaining in the game, but Emory & Henry used an 11-1 run over a span of 2:30 to trim the deficit 80-74 with 1:23 remaining. During that run, Tusculum would miss three straight field goals and go just 1-of-4 from the foul stripe.
Tusculum would miss two of its next four free throw tries, while E&H's Jackson Crawford four in a row to cut the once 18-point deficit down to 82-78 with one-minute remaining.
But the Pioneers would settle in as would make 10 consecutive free throws down the stretch including four each by Bryce Jackson and TJ Printup as Tusculum secured the victory.
Printup finished the game with a career-high 18 points as he went 8-of-11 at the charity stripe while grabbing five rebounds. Jackson tallied 15 points to go along with three blocked shots and three steals. Taj Kimber accounted for 15 points off the bench, while twin brother Denaj Kimber had six points, four rebounds and tied a season-best six assists.
Korbin Dixon led the Wasps with 16 points, Gabe Brown had 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds, while Assad Madassalia and Draven Pilson accounted for 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Tusculum finished the game shooting 28-of-58 from the field for 48 percent including 13-of-29 from beyond the arc (45%). TU also shot 23-of-33 from the foul line (70%). Meanwhile the Wasps went 28-of-66 for 42 percent and 18-of-21 from the foul line for 86 percent. E&H held a 41-34 edge in rebounding and out-scored TU 40-26 in the paint.
Tusculum opened the game outscoring the Wasps 23-9 in the opening 9:01 as Hale scored 10 straight points in span of 2:20. TU extended the lead out to 31-13 and 36-20 at the 6:31 mark of the first period.
The Wasps trimmed the TU lead down to 10 points on two occasions down the stretch of half. With TU up 47-34, the Wasps scored five in a row including a three-pointer by Pilson. Jackson would hit on a three-pointer at the buzzer as the Pioneers took a 50-39 lead into the locker room.
Tusculum opened the second half with a 7-0 run before Emory & Henry followed with six straight themselves as TU led 57-45 with 15:28 remaining in the game. Later in the half, Hale converted a three-point play to extend the TU lead to 64-49 with 12:29 on the clock.
The Wasps answered with a 7-2 spurt which was sparked by back-to-back buckets from Sam Ritchie as TU led 66-56 with 10:02 on the scoreboard. But triples from Hale and Taj Kimber ended the E&H run as TU went up 72-56 with 9:09 remaining. Emory & Henry would cut the deficit to a dozen at 75-63 with six minutes to go before Tusculum scored four straight to lead 79-63 with 4:08 left and set the table for the exciting finish.
Tusculum continues its season-long three-game home-stand on Saturday when they host Wingate for a 4 p.m. SAC game. The Pioneers recorded an impressive 96-84 road win over the Bulldogs last November at Cuddy Arena.
