GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — Bryce Jackson scored a season-high 29 points to lead the Tusculum men’s basketball team to an 88-74 South Atlantic Conference victory over Mars Hill Wednesday night at Pioneer Arena.
The Pioneers (9-14, 5-12 SAC) snap a four-game losing streak while completing the season sweep over the Lions (9-14, 3-15 SAC). TU also moves within a game of eighth place in the league standings.
Jackson went 8-of-14 from the floor including 3-of-6 from three-point territory. He also shot a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line, matching his 10-for-10 performance at Wingate in 2024.
TU freshman Jordan Attia scored a season-best 19 points, while TJ Printup added 12 points, six rebounds and three steals. Wesley Johnson added six points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots, while Jackson dished out a game-high six assists as TU records its ninth consecutive home win, a streak that started in 2017.
Mars Hill point guard Keenan Wilkins went the distance as he contributed a team-high 25 points to go along with four 3-pointers and nine rebounds. Alejandro Ford grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, while Aljaz Vidmar posted 11 points and made all five of his field goal attempts.
With the scored tied at 15-15 with 9:18 remaining in the first half, Tusculum went on a 14-2 run over a four-minute span to take a 29-17 lead.
The Pioneers would lead 36-24 with 2:24 left on the clock, but the Lions would trim the deficit to single digits as Carson Evans converted a layup and Gabriel Erbeck buried a triple to cut the TU to 36-29 with 1:45 before halftime.
But Tusculum scored the final seven points of the period including a three-pointer by sophomore Naim Ibroci as the Pioneers took a 43-29 lead into the locker room.
Johnson hit a three-pointer to start the half to give Tusculum its largest lead of the night at 46-29.
Mars Hill trimmed the TU lead to single digits again with a 10-2 spurt over the next 2:11 which included three-pointers by Ford and Wilkins as MHU trailed 48-39.
Tusculum extended the lead back to 15 (54-39) as Jackson scored six straight sparked by a break-away dunk.
Mars Hill made its biggest run of the evening as the Lions went on a 13-4 spurt over the next 3:39 and trimmed the once 17-point deficit down to five at 62-57 with 9:51 remaining on the clock.
The Pioneers answered with an 8-1 run to go up by a dozen at 70-58 with 8:11 to go. The Lions would get as close as 77-69 with 4:11 on the scoreboard, but that would be as close as the visitors would get. Tusculum would end the game on an 11-5 run including a dagger triple from Johnson as TU scored the final seven points of the game and MHU would go pointless for the final two minutes.
Tusculum finished the contest shooting 29-of-58 from the field including 9-of-24 from three-point land (38%). TU shot 21-of-25 at the free throw line (84%) and edged the Lions in rebounding by a 38-32 margin.
Jackson now has 1,163 career points which are ranked 23rd in program history as he passes Don Green (1140 pts – 1952-1954) and Ray Christian (1,156 pts – 1990-1994). He needs four points move into 22nd place which is held by Bob Sohas (1,166 pts – 1970-1974).
The Pioneers will continue its three-game home-stand on Saturday when they host Newberry for a 4 p.m. contest. TU will be looking to avenge a 93-61 loss to the Wolves in November’s SAC opener.
