GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — Jackson Crawford scored seven of his team-high 24 points to spark an 11-0 run at the end of the game as Emory & Henry rallied to a 78-71 South Atlantic Conference victory over Tusculum Wednesday night at Pioneer Arena.
The Wasps (11-6, 6-5 SAC) have won five of their last six games while the Pioneers (7-10, 3-8 SAC) suffer their fifth consecutive loss
Crawford connected on five 3-pointers on the night and a shot a perfect 7-of-7 from the charity stripe for the SAC’s top free throw shooter. His final trey of the night came with 1:37 remaining to give E&H a 73-68 lead.
Tusculum led 68-67 with 3:23 remaining the Wasps scored 11 unanswered points over span of 2:44 as TU missed five straight shots while Emory & Henry shot 8-of-10 down the stretch from the free throw line and made its only two field goal tries in the final three minutes, triples from Crawford and Melchior Hughes.
E&H’s Korbin Dixon posted 21 points, while Isaac Hymes tallied nine markers and eight rebounds in the victory.
Tusculum’s Bryce Jackson led all scorers with a season-best 28 points as he went 8-of-15 from the field with three 3-pointers and 9-of-11 from the free throw line. Damjan Vukcevic added a season-high 14 points and recorded four blocked shots for a second straight game. Denaj Kimber tallied 10 points, while Amari Allen contributed six points, eight rebounds and four assists in the loss.
Emory & Henry out-rebounded TU by a 42-24 margin including 15-5 on the offensive glass resulting in 13 second chance points for the Wasps.
E&H recorded 17 assists on its 25 made field goals including a dozen three-pointers on its 30 long-range attempts. Tusculum out-shot the Wasps 46 percent (22-48) to 44 percent (25-57).
Emory & Henry scored the first five points of the contest before TU went on a 13-2 run to take a 13-7 lead. Crawford scored five straight to trim the deficit to one (13-12) before Tusculum answered with a four-point play from Malachi Hale as TU pushed the lead to 17-12 with 13:34 left in the half.
The Wasps went on a 19-4 run to take a 31-21 lead with 6:25 to go in the period. With E&H up 33-23, Tusculum caught fire and scored the final 11 points of the half including Jackson’s 30-foot three-pointer at the buzzer as TU took a 34-33 lead into the locker room.
The Pioneers extended the run to 15-0 as Jackson hit a jumper and made two free throws as Tusculum led 38-33 with 18:51 on the clock.
The Wasps had missed 11 consecutive shots spanning the two halves, but snapped the drought on Crawford’s triple to start a 17-4 run as Emory & Henry led 50-42 with 13:15 remaining.
Emory & Henry led 56-49 following consecutive triples by Crawford, but TU went on an 11-4 run to tie the game at 60-60 on Kimber’s second 3-pointer of the half.
E&H’s Assad Madassalia broke the deadlock with his offensive rebound and layup to lead 62-60 with 7:13 on the clock.
Both teams went scoreless on its next two possessions before Allen made one of two free throws as TU trailed 62-61 with 5:46 to go. Dixon responded with a three-pointer which was answered by a Vukcevic dunk as Emory & Henry led 65-63 with 5:05 remaining.
Hymes followed with jumper outside the paint to go up by four, but Kimber floating jumper and two Jackson free throws tied the game at 67-67 with 4:09.
The Wasps turned the ball over on a shot clock violation and Tusculum took the lead when Jackson made one of two free throws with 3:23 left before E&H’s late-game spark.
Tusculum returns to action on Friday when they begin the second half of the SAC schedule with a rematch at Coker. TU won 70-68 over the Cobras in November on Kimber’s game-winning jumper with 1.3 seconds left. Friday’s tip-off from Hartsville, South Carolina is slated for 4 p.m.
