Food Lion SAC Men's Basketball Championship Summary: Tusculum Wins First Title With 79-73 Win Over Lenoir-Rhyne
March 6, 2005

HICKORY, N.C. - Tusculum College captured their first Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament title with today's 79-73 victory over Lenoir-Rhyne College in the championship game of the 2005 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament held Sunday afternoon at the Catawba Valley Community Center.

The Tusculum men's basketball team celebrates its first SAC tourney championship after a 79-73 win over Lenoir-Rhyne.

The win sends the No. 4 seeded Pioneers (18-10) to the NCAA Division II South Atlantic Regional Tournament next weekend by earning the league's automatic bid. The No.2 seeded Bears fall to 17-12 on the season and will await notice on an at-large bid.

In the first half, the Pioneers broke open a closely contested game with a 8-0 run to pull ahead 21-10 at the 11:48 mark on a three-pointer by junior guard Donald Sexton (Oneida, Tenn.). Sexton scored six of the eight points during the run. Tusculum extended their lead to its largest margin of the opening half at 17 points to 43- 26 on a three-pointer by Sexton at the 3:46 mark before the Bears closed the half with a pair of three-pointers by senior guard Tony Connelly (Charlotte, N.C) and sophomore guard Eric Mauldin (Albemarle, N.C.) to cut the lead to 45-32 at the half.

Both teams shot the ball well in the first half as the Pioneers were 48.5% from the field including nine-of-16 from beyond the arc while the Bears were 46.2% from the field on six-of-13 from three-point range. Tusculum took advantage of 12-2 edge in fast break points and a 13-3 edge on points off turnovers in the first half. Sexton led the Pioneers with 20 first half points on five-of-six from three-point land while sophomore guard Stephen Hinds (Winston-Salem, N.C.) and Connelly led Lenoir-Rhyne with eight points apiece.

The second half saw the Pioneer lead expand to 17 points at 60-43 on a layup by senior forward Brad Hawks (Galax, Tenn.) at the 11:55 mark before the Bears began their comeback. Lenoir-Rhyne outscored the Pioneers 14-2 over the next three minutes to cut the lead to 62-57 with 8:57 left in the game. L-R's senior forward Roman Davis (Greensboro, N.C.) keyed the comeback with six points during the run.

The Pioneer lead was cut to only two points at 72-70 after L-R's freshman guard Josh Rudder (Graham, N.C.) connected on one of his two three-pointers in the second half with 2:06 remaining in the game. The Pioneers Hawks scored on two straight possessions and junior forward Douglas Tshomba (Brussels, Belgium) hit three- of-four free throws in the final 22 seconds to seal the victory.

The Pioneers were led in scoring by Sexton, the 2005 SAC Tournament MVP, who tallied a game-high 24 points including 20 in the first half while SAC All-Tournament selections Tshomba added 22 points and eight boards. TC's senior guard Greg McIntosh (Indianapolis, IN) rounded out the Pioneers' All-Tourney selections with eight points and five boards. Hawks rounded out the double figure scorers for the Pioneer s with 10 points and nine boards off the bench.

The Bears were led by SAC All-Tourney selection Roman Davis who scored 19 points, all coming in the second half. Rudder, the Bears other SAC All-Tourney selection added eight points while Connelly chipped in 13 points and Mauldin added 12 points.

TUSCULUM HEAD COACH DUGGAR BAUCOM:

On winning the team's first SAC Title: "This is an awesome feeling for our guys, our fans, and out school. But especially for our seniors."

On Lenoir-Rhyne's 2nd half run: "We knew they wouldn't give up and when they cut it to two points (72-70), we were going to have to step up and we did. When Brad (Hawks) made that dunk, I felt that gave us enough momentum to get us home."

LENOIR-RHYNE HEAD COACH JOHN LENTZ

If last night's game (an 84-82 overtime win over PC) had any affect on today: "It definitely didn't seem like it for the last 12 minutes of the game. We could have easily folded up the tent and left but we didn't."

On Tusculum: "If you look at their roster, you can see a lot of experience (junior and seniors) on their team. And don't forget, they were picked to win the league in the preseason."

On the season: "We said before the season, if we at least finish .500, it would be a successful season. But we wound up in second place and had a chance to win it. I'm disappointed with the way it ended but I'm proud of the team for what they accomplished."

TUSCULUM 79, LENOIR-RHYNE 73
TUSCULUM (18-10): Sexton, Donald 6-14 7-9 24; Tshomba, Douglas 6-13 7-8 22; Hawks, Brad 5-11 0-1 10; McIntosh, Greg 3-9 1-1 8; Lear, Jordan 2-7 4-4 8; Farus, Matt 2-3 0-0 4; Ewing, Bobby 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 25-59 19-23 79.
LENOIR-RHYNE (17-12): Davis, Roman 6-11 7-8 19; Connelly, Tony 5-14 0-1 13; Mauldin, Eric 4-6 0-0 12; Rudder, Josh 3-7 0-0 8; Hinds, Stephen 3-10 1-1 8; Bratton, Reggie 2-3 2-4 6; Lawson, David 2-2 0-0 5; Morris, Kyle 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 26-54 10-14 73.

Tusculum...................... 45 34 - 79 
Lenoir-Rhyne.................. 32 41 - 73 

3-point goals-Tusculum 10-22 (Sexton, Donald 5-9; Tshomba, Douglas 3-7; Ewing, Bobby 1-2; McIntosh, Greg 1-3; Lear, Jordan 0-1), Lenoir-Rhyne 11-27 (Mauldin, Eric 4-6; Connelly, Tony 3-9; Rudder, Josh 2-6; Lawson, David 1-1; Hinds, Stephen 1-5). Fouled out--Tusculum- None, Lenoir-Rhyne-None. Rebounds-Tusculum 33 (Hawks, Brad 9), Lenoir-Rhyne 35 (Davis, Roman 7). Assists-Tusculum 14 (Sexton, Donald 5), Lenoir-Rhyne 20 (Hinds, Stephen 6). Total fouls-Tusculum 12, Lenoir-Rhyne 19. A-1225