EMORY, Va. — Korbin Dixon poured in a game-high 26 points to lead the Emory & Henry men’s basketball team to a 79-72 South Atlantic Conference win over Tusculum Wednesday night at the King Center.
The Wasps (15-12, 10-11 SAC) snap a four-game losing streak while completing the season sweep over the Pioneers (10-17, 7-15 SAC).
E&H used a 17-3 run in the first half to take a 19-point lead at 35-16, but the Wasps had to hold off a furious rally by Tusculum to secure the victory and a berth in next month’s SAC Tournament.
Dixon went 9-of-15 from the floor with three 3-pointers, while Jackson Crawford and Jaden Andrew contributed 15 and 11 points, respectively.
Tusculum stayed in the game thanks to Malachi Hale‘s 23-point performance including 16 markers in the opening half as he went a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor including four 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes.
TJ Printup and Bryce Jackson added 16 points apiece, while Wesley Johnson was responsible for 11 points and eight rebounds in the loss.
Emory & Henry, who led wire-to-wire, scored the first six points of the game and stretched its lead to 17-5 following a Sam Ritchie three-pointer at the 15:13 mark of the first half.
Tusculum followed with an 8-1 run sparked by back-to-back triples from Hale as TU trailed 18-13 with 12:19 left before halftime.
E&H went on its 17-3 run over the next five minutes to take its largest lead of the night at 35-16 with 7:18 on the clock.
The Pioneers responded with a 20-7 spurt including a 12-0 run to finish off the half as the 19-point deficit was trimmed to 42-36 at the intermission. Hale scored 11 of his 16 first half points during the run, while Johnson scored the final seven points of the period.
The Wasps scored the first five points of the second half to stretch the lead back to double digits at 47-36.
E&H pushed it out to a 60-47 lead with 12 minutes to go following a Jalen Smith layup. But the Pioneers went on a 16-5 run over a 6:58 span and cut the deficit to 65-63 following a Printup basket with 5:24 remaining.
After a timeout, Dixon answered with a three-pointer, but Hale followed with a layup and was fouled on the play as TU trailed 68-65 with 4:45 on the clock. Hale would miss the free throw, force a turnover on the ensuing possession, but would turn the ball over himself all within a 45 second span.
Andrew would make one of two free throws for the Wasps to make it a four-point game (69-65). Tusculum would get two shots off on the ensuing possession but would turn the ball over on a shot clock violation with 3:24 to go.
Dixon connected on a layup 30 seconds later, but Jackson would can a jumper as TU trailed 71-67 with 2:43 remaining.
Tusculum sent Dixon to the line where he made both free throws as E&H led 73-67 with 2:16 on the scoreboard. TU would foul again as Assad Madassalia made his two free throws to make it a six-point game again (75-69) with 1:39 on the board.
Jackson would bury a three-pointer with 1:31 remaining to make it a one-possession game at 75-72 as Tusculum called a timeout.
Emory & Henry would miss a three-pointer, but Dixon came up with the offensive rebound and Crawford made a layup with 48 seconds left to make it a 77-72 game.
Tusculum would turn the ball over and would be forced to foul as Andrew made two free throws to make it a three-possession game at 79-72 with 36 seconds left.
TU would get off a pair of three-point tries on its final possession, but came up empty as the Wasps recorded the victory.
Hale finished the game shooting 8-of-10 from the floor including 4-of-5 from three-point territory to go along with his six rebounds and two blocked shots.
Tusculum held a 41-37 edge in rebounding, but the Wasps forced 12 turnovers resulting in 14 points.
Jackson, a graduate student from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, has scored 1,242 points in his 82-game career at Tusculum. His point tally is the 21st-most in program history and needs seven points to surpass former TU great Jeremy Fortner (1,248 pts from 1996-2000). His 118 career steals are the eighth-most by a Pioneer, moving past Fortner’s total of 117 thefts.
The Pioneers will wrap the season on Saturday when they host eighth-ranked Anderson University for Senior Day. Anderson clinched the SAC regular-season title with a 91-90 overtime win over Lenoir-Rhyne on Wednesday.
Saturday will also be Tusculum’s annual “Play for Kell Game.” The “Play for Kell” initiative honors the life of Ja’Kell Johnson, the niece of Pioneer head coach J.T. Burton. Ja’Kell, who was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2018 and battled the disease valiantly for four years before passing away in 2021. This will be the fourth annual “Play for Kell” Game.
