GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — Seven Tusculum players scored in double-figures while the team established a pair of program records as the Pioneers defeated Crown College 127-72 Tuesday at Pioneer Arena in the 2025 Jack Kilday Education Game.
Over 1,200 elementary and middle school students, teachers and staff from Greene County schools attended Tusculum’s annual Education Game which is named in honor of the late Pioneer basketball and baseball student-athlete, who later became a beloved educator, coach and administrator in the Greene County school system.
Tusculum (4-3) finished the contest with 36 assists on 54 made field goals, both single-game marks, while the 127 points are the most during the NCAA Division II era of the program and sixth-most overall.
Freshman Reed Ownby led the team with his 16 points as he went 6-of-10 from the floor and grabbled six rebounds. AJ Murphy (14), TJ Printup (12), Wesley Johnson (12), Jeremiah Wilson (11), Malachi Hale (10) and J3 Swindell (10) all finished in double figure scoring. All 16 TU players who saw action found their way into the scoring column as well.
Crown’s Logan McGraw led all scorers with his 23 points thanks to six 3-pointers, while also pulling down a team-high six rebounds. Jordan Mills added 15 points, while Logan Cline tallied a dozen markers in the loss.
Tusculum shot a blistering 66 percent from the field (54-of-82) as the Pioneers were credited with 12 dunks in the contest. TU went 7-of-21 from three-point territory and connected on 12 of its 15 free throw tries (80%). The Royal Crusaders shot 40 percent on the day and connected on 11-of-35 from beyond the arc.
Tusculum dominated the boards by a 58-17 margin with the duo of Amari Allen and Taj Kimber as they accounted for seven rebounds apiece. TU forced 14 turnovers thanks to 12 steals including three each by Printup and Murphy.
Tusculum opened the game on a 13-4 run following a dunk by Johnson. Crown kept the deficit in single digits for the first seven minutes of the game.
Leading 17-12, the Pioneers erupted for an 11-0 run to take a 28-12 following Hale’s driving layup with 11:35 left in the half.
Trailing 33-17, Crown went on a 10-5 spurt to cut the deficit to 38-27 thanks to a three-pointer from Cline.
The Pioneers answered with nine straight points to stretch their advantage out to 47-27 with 5:08 to go in the period. TU would stretch the lead out to 23 (60-37) before setting for a 60-39 advantage at the intermission.
Tusculum outscored Crown 67-33 in the second half as TU stretch the lead out to as much as 56 as the Pioneers went 28-of-40 (70%) in the final 20 minutes.
Tusculum’s 54 field goals made surpasses the previous record of 50 against East Coast Bible on Jan. 9, 1998. The 36 assists breaks the previous record of 32 helpers posted on three different occasions with the latest coming against Lees-McRae on Feb. 16, 1998.
Bryce Jackson led TU with his six assists to go along with four points, four rebounds and two steals in his 14 minutes of play. Jackson was one of 13 different players to finished with an assist in the game.
The Pioneers return to action this Saturday when they host Wingate for a South Atlantic Conference game beginning at 2 p.m.
