ANDERSON, S.C. — Jacob Hobbs scored a season-high 18 points to lead Tusculum to an 88-83 South Atlantic Conference victory at Anderson Saturday afternoon at the Abney Athletic Center.
The Pioneers (14-12, 12-8 SAC) complete the season-sweep over the Trojans (15-13, 10-10 SAC) and clinch sole possession of fifth place in the final league standings. Tusculum will face fourth-seeded Carson-Newman on Wednesday at 5 p.m. in a SAC Quarterfinal in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
Tusculum finished the season strong winning seven of its final nine games including four consecutive road victories. TU also clinches its sixth straight winning season, a first in program history.
Hobbs shot 7-of-8 from the floor including 2-of-2 from three-point territory. Bryce Jackson added 15 points as he connected on all seven of his free throw attempts, while senior Connor Jordan scored 14, hitting 9-of-10 from the charity stripe including a pair with 3.8 seconds remaining to seal the victory and hold off a late charge by Anderson.
The Pioneers used a 13-4 run spanning the first and second halves to take its largest lead of the game at 49-32 following a three-point play by junior Akeem Odusipe.
Tusculum maintained its double-digit lead throughout the first 9:21 of the second period. Jordan buried a three-pointer with 12:27 left as TU led 64-49. Anderson responded with an 8-0 run capped by a Luke Denbow triple as the Trojans trailed 64-57 with 11:39 left.
Anderson would get to within five at 68-63 on Mack Burgett’s layup with 8:05 remaining. The two teams traded baskets before TU went on an 8-0 run of its own on four points apiece by the rookie duo of Jackson and TJ Printup as the Pioneers grew their lead to 78-65 with 4:02 on the clock.
The Trojans made a furious charge and used a 10-2 run including a three-point play by Dallas Jones with 1:08 remaining as the once 17-point deficit was cut to four at 82-78.
Jackson would be fouled for the Pioneers and his two made free throws with 50.2 second left gave the Pioneers an 84-78 advantage.
Anderson would get off a pair three-point tries on its next possession, but both missed including a block by Printup with 41.7 seconds remaining. TU’s Travis Pourciau would be fouled and he would make one of two free throws as the Pioneers led 85-78 with 37.8 seconds to go.
Luke Denbow drained a triple with 32.1 seconds left to make it a four-point game again (85-81). Hobbs would be sent to the free throw line with 29.1 second on the scoreboard as he missed the first free throw, but made the second as TU led 86-81.
The Trojans would get off two three-point shots on their ensuing possession, but came up empty. Pourciau would be fouled with 13 seconds left, but he would miss both giving Anderson another try.
Luke Denbow missed his first three-point attempt, but AU came down with the rebound and Denbow would be fouled while shooting a three with 3.8 seconds left. He made the first two free throws to cut the lead to 86-83. Anderson called a timeout and elected to have Denbow miss the third free throw on-purpose. But on the attempt, his line drive did not hit the rim, giving possession to the Pioneers.
On the in-bounds play, Denbow tried to draw an offensive foul on the Pioneers as he and Jordan collided in the backcourt. Denbow would be whistled for the foul and Jordan made both free throws as the Pioneers recorded its fifth-straight victory at Anderson.
Tusculum finished the game shooting 57 percent from the floor including 8-of-14 from three-point territory. Anderson ended the contest shooting 49 percent and outscored the Pioneers by a 58-34 margin in the paint.
Cole Middleton led the Trojans with his 14 points off the bench, Luke Denbow tallied 13, Burgett had 12 and Jones finished with 11 markers in the loss.
Funderburk went 4-of-5 from field including 2-of-2 from three-point land. Printup tallied eight points, Odusipe and KJ Crump had seven each, while Josiah Morris finished with six points on his two 3-pointers. Pourciau led the Pioneers with five rebounds and two blocked shots.
Wednesday’s match-up with Carson-Newman will mark the fifth time the Pioneers and Eagles have met in the SAC postseason. The last time came in the 2021 SAC Semifinal where Carson-Newman game away with a 60-59 win in Greeneville.
The entire SAC Basketball Championship will be held at the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center with quarterfinal games this Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by the semifinal on Thursday and the championship game Friday night.
