GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — The Tusculum University men’s basketball team used a 19-4 run spanning the first and second halves as the Pioneers rallied from a nine-point deficit to knock off visiting Catawba College 78-66 Saturday afternoon in South Atlantic Conference men’s basketball action.
Tusculum (7-8, 5-4 SAC) records its first three-game winning streak of the season and improves to 6-2 at Pioneer Arena this year. TU head coach J.T. Burton notched his 91st win in Greeneville and ties Hall of Fame skipper Folly Malone (1976-1983) for second place in program history.
Tusculum senior guard Connor Jordan scored a game-high 21 points while tallying six rebounds, four assists and a career-best four steals as TU defeats Catawba for the sixth time in the last seven meetings.
TU held Catawba to a season-low 66 points while limiting the Indians to 38.3 percent shooting including 10-of-28 in the second half (36%) for the defending SAC Tournament Champions
Redshirt freshman Bryce Jackson contributed 16 points and six rebounds, while KJ Crump and Josiah Morris accounted for 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Catawba (8-4, 5-3 SAC) got 17 points from Javeon Jones, while Shad Thomas and Justin Banks had 10 points each. Banks also hauled in 10 rebounds including five on the offensive glass as he recorded his second double-double of the year.
Jordan records his team-leading sixth 20-point performance of the season and the 11th of his collegiate career. He also eclipsed the 900-point plateau as a collegian, recording 910 points in his 85-game career.
The Pioneers, who improve to 4-1 in January, will close out the month with a three-game road trip beginning with Wednesday’s contest at longtime in-state foe Lincoln Memorial University. Tip-off time is 7:30 p.m. from Tex Turner Arena. Listen on 95.5FM WSMG.
