GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — The Limestone University men’s basketball team overcame an 18-point deficit to rally to a 73-70 South Atlantic Conference win at Tusculum University Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Arena.
Limestone used a 10-0 run in the final three minutes as the Saints (6-7, 3-6) have won three of their last four games, and outscored Tusculum (3-10, 3-6 SAC) 52-35 in the second half.
Sirr Hughes led the Saints with his 21-point performance, all coming in the second half. Limestone also got a pair of double-doubles as Trevon Payton posted 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Greg McKay accounted for a dozen markers to go along with his 11 boards.
The loss spoiled the career-day for Tusculum sophomore Bryce Jackson who poured in a career-high 35 points including 10 points in the opening 6:32 as the Pioneers (3-10, 3-6 SAC) scored the first nine points of the game and raced out to a 15-2 lead.
Tusculum took its biggest lead of the day when freshman Denaj Kimber capped off a 7-0 run with his jumper with 2:49 left in the half as TU went up 31-13 and took a 35-21 lead into the locker room.
TU freshman Jason Britton drained a three-pointer to start the second half as the Pioneer lead swelled to 38-21. It would be Tusculum’s last bucket for over four minutes as the Saints went on an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to single digits (38-29) following a McKay layup with 14:30 remaining.
Jackson snapped the drought with his basket, but Limestone went on a 10-3 spurt over the next 3:38 as Hughes buried a three-pointer and followed with a conventional 3-point play to trim the TU lead to 43-39 with 10:22 on the clock.
The Pioneers pushed the lead out to eight points on three occasions including 57-49 with 5:31 left after two free throws from Jackson. But Limestone completed the comeback with a 10-2 run with Payton drilling the game-tying bucket to even the score at 59-59 with 3:53 left.
Jackson scored five in a row with a pair of free throws and converted a three-point play as Tusculum led 64-59 with 3:11 to go.
But Limestone scored 10 unanswered over a span of 1:44 thanks to four made free throws, sandwiched by triples from McKay and Hughes as the Saints led 69-64 with 50 seconds remaining.
Jackson hit a jumper in the paint and was fouled on the play with 39.9 seconds left. But his free throw was no good. McKay would be fouled and he would make one of his two free throws to make it a four-point game (70-66). Jackson went the length of the floor for the layup as TU trailed 70-68 with 31 seconds left.
After a timeout, Tusculum put on the defensive pressure but was unable to come up with a turnover on two occasions. The Saints were able to get into the front court as Isayah Owens was fouled with 16 seconds left. Owens remained perfect on the line in his six trips to the stripe including his final two tries to increase the lead to 72-68.
The Pioneers came up empty on their next possession as McKay pulled down his 11th rebound of the game and would make one of two free throws to make it a 5-point game at 73-68. Denaj Kimber hit a layup with two seconds left to make it a one possession game. But Limestone was able to run the clock out to preserve the win.
The Saints went 20-of-25 from the free line (80%) including 15-of-18 in the second half. Tusculum, who shot 48 percent from the floor in the first half, was held to 31 percent in the second including 1-of-11 from three-point territory. TU also shot 14-of-22 from the free throw stripe (64%).
Limestone placed five players in double figures as Owens and Emmanuel Okogie posted 10 points apiece off the bench.
Kimber added 10 points for Tusculum, while Akeem Odusipe tallied six points and a team-high 11 rebounds for his fourth straight outing with 10 or more boards.
Printup tallied seven points and five rebounds in his season-debut after missing the first two months due to injury. Malachi Hale finished with five points and eight rebounds, while Britton totaled five points and four boards.
Jackson went 13-of-28 from the floor and 8-of-11 at the free throw line. He tied a Tusculum single-game record with his 28 field goal attempts, matching the total recorded by Jeff Riley against Alice Lloyd College in 1986.
Jackson becomes the first Pioneer to eclipse the 30-point plateau since Trenton Gibson’s 31-point performance against UVA Wise on Nov. 24, 2020. He also became the first TU player to score 35 or more since Javon Price’s 37-point showing vs Queens on Feb. 27, 2016.
Tusculum will be looking to snap a five-game losing streak this Wednesday as they travel to Emory & Henry for a 7:30 p.m. contest. Listen on 95.5FM WSMG.
