VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview
VIDEO: Highlights
VIDEO: Jack Browder Interview
VIDEO: Trey Hubbard Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (17-7, 12-6 South Atlantic Conference) ran its winning streak to a fourth game in-a-row, using a big second half run to put away a pesky Mars Hill (6-14, 4-14 SAC) team Wednesday night in Holt Fieldhouse.
Carson-Newman built a 16-point first half lead, only to let that wither away. The Eagles found themselves trailing by two, 60-58, with 10:02 to go before kicking on the afterburners.
C-N would rattle off a 20-6 run over the next six minutes to flip the lead back in its favor by double digits. Trey Hubbard (Charlotte, N.C.) was the primary catalyst for the surge. The senior point guard scored seven of the first 10 points on the run and had half of the scoring burst overall.
After trailing by two, the Eagles outscored the Lions 30-14 to finish the game.
"I will take an ugly win over a beautiful loss any day of the week," head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "Mars Hill is struggling in terms of wins and losses, but let's not forget this team started the year 4-0 and was receiving votes. I thought they gave us a lot of trouble today. I also think that we came out right for the first eight minutes of the game, then for the next 22 minutes, it was just a stinker. We were able to stabilize and finish it with some timely stops and baskets. I'll give our guys credit for doing just enough to get a win."
Hubbard surpassed 1,000 points in his collegiate basketball career. He finished with a game high 28 and sits on 1,018 points for his career, 819 of which have been while playing for C-N.
He was his usual efficient self, going 10-of-12 from the field and 2-for-2 from deep. He also shared the ball well with nine assists.
"I wish that Trey had come here out of high school," Benson said. "He'd have a lot more than 1,000. It's a major accomplishment to do that as a college player. It's behind him now, so in some ways I'm thankful because we can fully focus on big team issues."
Over the last two games, Hubbard has 58 points, 17 assists and 15 rebounds.
He was one of four Eagles in double digits on the day. Jack Browder tallied his 19th career double-double and his second consecutive with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Braden Ilic (Morristown, Tenn.) produced 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting to got with eight points, while John Zhao (Sevierville, Tenn.) had 12 points and four boards. Zhao was 5-of-11 from the field, going 4-for-5 from inside the paint.
For much of the game, C-N's ball security proved costly. The Eagles turned it over 16 times leading to a 16-4 edge for the Lions in points off turnovers. However, C-N only turned it over once in the final 11 minutes of the game as the Eagles made their run.
"If there was a thing as a delayed hangover, we either experienced it, or we created," Benson said. "I take some responsibility for this too, I made some decisions in this game that weren't the best. I didn't trust my gut on a couple things and that's my fault. We have to be a team that controls our controllables and limits controllable mistakes. We have to realize that winning is hard. We've been trending in the right direction and I like where we are going, but today wasn't our best.
The turnovers negated C-N's hot shooting. The Eagles made 62.5 percent of their shots, good for a fourth game above 60 percent this season. Carson-Newman made 70.6 percent of its shots after halftime. The Eagles only missed two, two-point shots in the second half.
The Eagles outrebounded the Lions 40-28. Mars Hill did grab 14 offensive boards, netting 14 second-chance points.
Carson-Newman was just 7-of-18 from beyond the arc, just the second game this season the Eagles have attempted fewer than 20 threes (the first meeting with Mars Hill was the other).
"We had a nice combination of stops and generating scores in transition," Benson said. "Trey's performance was electric. I thought he was a big catalyst, as did Joshuwa Butts. Nick, Jack and John were quiet, but still combined for 40. A lot of people had their finger prints on the game, but especially at the end."
C-N held MHU to 37 percent shooting. The Lions did connect on 10-of-29 threes, but just 5-of-16 after halftime.
Kadyn Dawkins paced Mars Hill with 22 points. He was 9-of-17 from the floor. Dawkins was 2-of-7 from deep.
Dinari Boykin finished with 14 points on 14 shot attempts, while Kory Davis and Marvin Hires both had 11 points.
Carson-Newman sweeps the season series with the Lions and runs its series winning streak over MHU to four consecutive.
Carson-Newman stays at home Saturday to take on Newberry. Tipof between the Eagles and Wolves is set for 4 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 3:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mix 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. A video stream is available through FloSports with a subscription at cneagles.com/FloMbb.
