VIDEO: Chuck Benson Jack Browder and Trey Hubbard Postgame Press Conference
LAKELAND, Fla – Carson-Newman's (1-1) four preseason all-conference players were tremendous in a 94-75 rout of #22 Fort Lewis (0-2) on Sunday afternoon on the final day of the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic.
Nick Brenegan, Jack Browder, Trey Hubbard and John Zhao combined to score 86 of Carson-Newman's 94 points in what is C-N's largest margin of victory under head coach Chuck Benson. The ranked win also serves as Carson-Newman's first ranked win in regular season non-conference play under Benson.
"Obviously, we are very pleased with the outcome," Carson-Newman head coach Chuck Benson said. "We knew it was going to be very difficult down here with the caliber of opponents. Came up short last night, but I love our turnaround and bounce back to get a top 25 win today. Really happy with our guys and pleased with the response that I saw in the prep from yesterday to today."
Browder led the team in scoring he scored 26 points on efficient seven for 11 shooting. He made four of his six triples and was eight for 12 from the free throw line. The junior forward also snared down ten boards for his 12th career double-double. Browder has scored 20+ points on 18 different occasions in his career and has done so in both games to start the year.
"I think we learned a lot from yesterday," Browder said. "If we can keep improving each game, I have supreme confidence in our team going forward. Our team is just so versatile, we trust each other and it's exciting to know what we can do in the future."
Zhao followed in nicely for C-N's attack, scoring 23 points and made nine of his 15 shots including five of his eight three-pointers. Zhao now has 19 career games with 20 or more points.
Trey Hubbard scored 16 of his 22 points after halftime, going an efficient nine for 13 shooting and nailed both of his three-point attempts. The senior point guard recorded his tenth career game with 20 or more points.
With Browder, Hubbard and Zhao each scoring 20+ points, it's the first time Carson-Newman has had three players score 20+ in a game since having Browder, Zhao and Nick Brenegan did it against Mars Hill on Feb 7 this past season.
Brenegan got going late, scoring 13 of his 15 points in the second half, all of which came in the final nine minutes of the game.
The first few minutes of the game were back and forth, with the lead changing multiple times and Fort Lewis gaining a one-point advantage with 16:34 to go in the opening half.
Carson-Newman would take control of the game over the next five minutes. The Eagles went on a 19-0 scoring run over the course of two media breaks to lead 30-12 with 11:14 to play in the opening half.
The Eagles never let the Skyhawks get closer than 11 points the rest of the way in the opening half and took a 14-point lead into the locker room.
Browder and Zhao had 33 of Carson-Newman's 45 points in the first 20 minutes of the game.
Hubbard helped push Carson-Newman's lead to 20 points early in the second half. He scored eight of C-N's first 12 points to make it 57-37 Eagles with 15:33 to play.
The Skyhawks began to trim into the deficit over the next four minutes, going on 13-0 run to make it 66-58 with 10:09 remaining. It was the first time since the 13-minute mark of the opening half that the game had been in single digits.
Brenegan and Hubbard helped C-N push the lead back to double digits very quickly. The duo combined to score nine of the next 14 points to push C-N's lead to 13 with 7:20 to go.
The stellar sequence continued after the under eight media timeout. Brenegan scored five in a row to push the lead out to 17 points with six to play. Zhao capped a 14-3 extended run with a layup at the five-minute mark and the Skyhawks never got any closer as Carson-Newman ran away with a 94-75 win on the final day of the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic.
Brenegan and Hubbard combined to score 29 of their 37 combined points in the second half.
The Eagles scorched the nets shooting an impressive 61% from the field and made 52% of their three-pointers compared to #22 Fort Lewis' 41% shooting mark and 25% shooting from beyond the arc.
C-N handled the Skyhawks' full-court pressure defense well, only committing 14 turnovers, ten of which came in the opening half. Helping break that pressure was Carson-Newman big man Braden Ilic who led the team with six assists.
Biko Johnson and Choul Deng each had a team-high 21 points for #22 Fort Lewis.
Carson-Newman is back in action Saturday at 5:30 p.m. as it begins the SAC/Conference Carolinas Challenge against King. Pregame coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 5:15 p.m. with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on MIX 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
