GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University men's basketball team scored the first 21 points of the game and led wire-to-wire as the Pioneers defeated visiting Coker University 106-91 Saturday afternoon in South Atlantic Conference action at Pioneer Arena.
With the victory, Tusculum (4-13, 4-9 SAC) snaps an eight-game losing streak, while the Cobras (11-5, 7-5 SAC) have lost four consecutive games and have dropped their last five league contests.
TU sophomore Bryce Jackson led all scorers with 27 points for his seventh 20-point game of the season. He shot 8-of-11 from the floor including 4-of-5 from three-point territory while also grabbing eight rebounds. Rookie Denaj Kimber scored a season-best 20 points while dishing out five assists and also went 4-of-5 from beyond the arc.
Senior Akeem Odusipie tallied 15 points and 12 rebounds for his fourth career double-double and second of the season against Coker. Freshman Jason Britton added 11 points, junior Malachi Hale accounted for nine points and eight rebounds and the trio of Jackson Owens, TJ Printup and Taj Kimber poured in eight points apiece.
Coker's Jamie Muldowney and Max Hurray contributed 20 and 16 points, respectively off the bench. Ian Blue had 17 points and Glen Bynum totaled 14 markers in the loss.
TU connected on its first six field goal attempts including five 3-pointers as the Pioneers led 17-0 at the 16:51 mark. Tusculum extended the lead to 21-0 following a Printup basket with 14:30 left in the half. Meanwhile, Coker came up empty on its first eight shots while committing six turnovers in the opening 5:27 of the game.
The Cobras cut into the TU lead with 7-2 spurt which included a Muldowney triple as the Pioneers were up 23-7 at the 13:21 mark.
Tusculum answered with a 19-3 run over the next 4:17 to take its largest lead of the game at 42-10 following a Denaj Kimber three-pointer.
The Cobras fought through the shooting drought and responded with a 20-6 run to cut the once 32-point deficit down to 48-30 following a Blue three-pointer with 2:52 left in the period.
TU went on 8-2 run which was capped off by a steal from Britton to lead to a breakaway dunk by Odusipe the lead swelled back to 24 (56-32). But the Cobras scored the last four points of the period including a Landon Butler layup just before the horn as TU led 56-36 at the intermission.
Tusculum shot a blistering 62 percent in the first half including 8-of-13 from three-point territory, while the Cobras were held to 34 percent shooting (11-of-32).
The Pioneers led by as many as 65-39 early in the second half and led 73-52 with 13:27 left following a three-point play by Hale.
The Cobras erupted for a 16-4 run over a 2:36 span to trim the deficit down to single digits at 77-68 with 10:06 remaining.
Tusculum responded with an 8-2 spurt to extended the lead to 85-70 with 8:40 to go. Coker trimmed the deficit to 11 points on two occasions including 87-76 with 6:06 left following a pair of Muldowney free throws.
A 10-2 run in a 2:09 span sparked TU to a 97-78 lead with 3:35 on the clock. The Cobras made one final charge going on an 11-4 spurt thanks to back-to-back Muldowney buckets to cut the deficit to a dozen (101-89) with 1:37 to go. But that would be as close as Coker would get as the Pioneers scored five in a row and forced two turnovers down the stretch, as TU recorded its first win since beating Mars Hill on Nov. 30, 2024.
Tusculum went 36-of-61 from the field (59%) including 10-of-19 from three-point land (53%) and 24-of-34 from the free throw line (71%). Coker finished the day shooting 37 percent including 13-of-50 from three-point territory (26%) and a sizzling 22-of-24 from the charity stripe (92%).
There were 52 combined fouls while Tusculum turned the ball over 24 times, while Coker committed 20 miscues. TU's 106 points are the most in a game this season as the Pioneers split the season series with the Cobras.
Tusculum will be on the road on Wednesday when they travel to UVA Wise for a 7:30 p.m. contest.
