Tusculum University overcame a season-low 28.1 percent shooting by limiting UVA-Wise to 19 points in the second half as the Pioneers pulled out a 54-47 victory Wednesday evening at the Prior Convocation Center in South Atlantic Conference women’s basketball action.
Blayre Shultz scored 17 points and Deidre Cheremond added 10 points, 10 rebounds, and a career-high five steals as the Pioneers (18-5, 9-4 SAC) clinched a berth in the upcoming SAC Women’s Basketball Championship tournament with the victory. Mya Belton added 13 points and seven rebounds while Jami Tham had a game-high 14 rebounds but saw her streak of consecutive games with a double-double end at 22.
Luke Lawson scored 30 points to go along with his five blocked shots to lead the UVA-Wise men’s basketball team to an 83-74 South Atlantic Conference win over visiting Tusculum University Wednesday night at the Prior Convocation Center.
The Cavaliers (14-9, 7-7 SAC) split the season series with Tusculum and end a nine-game losing streak at the hands of the Pioneers (10-10, 6-7 SAC). TU suffers its third consecutive loss and fifth in the last six games.
Lawson went 9-of-14 from the floor and 4-of-6 from the three-point territory as he recorded his third 30-point game of the season. He also went 8-of-10 from the free-throw line while posting two assists and two steals.
Bradley Dean, the SAC’s leading scorer, added to his total as he finished with 27 points and 12 rebounds.
Tusculum’s Justin Mitchell matched a season-best 18 points off the bench as he connected on his first four shots with three of them coming from beyond the arch. Junior forward Inady Legiste accounted for 16 points and 12 rebounds for his 12th double-double of the season. Kobe Funderburk had a season-best 11 points including three treys, while KJ Crump had eight points and two assists.
Tusculum will return home for three consecutive games, starting Saturday at 2 p.m. against Lenoir-Rhyne.
