No. 2 Carson-Newman Downs No. 3 Newberry to Move to 2015 South Atlantic Conference Men's Hoops Championship Final
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Second-seeded Carson-Newman shot 52 percent from the field on the night to top No. 3 seed Newberry, 82-72, in the last semifinal of the 2015 South Atlantic Conference Men's Basketball Championship, Saturday night at Timmons Arena.
Carson-Newman (17-13) defeated the Wolves for the seventh consecutive outing and snapped a four-game skid in SAC semifinal contests, while claiming its fourth consecutive SAC semifinal win over Newberry. The Wolves slipped to 20-10 on the season with their seventh consecutive setback to the Eagles.
Newberry, ranked ninth in the most recent NCAA Southeast Region rankings, will be looking for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament's Southeast Region Tournament, with the NCAA Selection Show scheduled for 10 p.m. Sunday.
Carson-Newman won the battle of the boards, 40-32, and forced 19 turnovers by the Wolves.
Newberry senior Dondray Walker led the Wolves with 28 points, while Gerald Evans added 10 for Newberry.
Carson-Newman freshman Charles Clark led all scorers with a career-high 33 points, while first-team All-SAC selection Carson Brooks notched 17 points and eight rebounds. Josh Rogers and sophomore Sawyer Williams tallied 11 points apiece.
Carson-Newman scored the first two points of the game on a pair of free throws from Williams, with the lead changing hands three times inside the first two minutes of the contest. Evans' 3-pointer at the 16:32 mark gave the Wolves an 11-8 lead and while the game was tied once more in the first half, Newberry would not trail again in the opening 20 minutes, as Walker's layup with 14:18 on the clock gave Newberry a lead it would not relinquish, at 15-13.
After Evans' second trey of the game boosted the Wolves' advantage to 20-16, the two squads suffered a scoring drought of nearly three minutes before Brooks snapped the scoreless stretch with a layup midway through the half.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Walker and James Ashby boosted the Wolves to their largest lead of the frame at 29-22.
Carson-Newman crept back within two on three occasions, but was unable to overtake Newberry, as the Wolves carried a 40-34 cushion into halftime.
Following Demarkus Smith's layup that gave Newberry a 45-36 lead, the Eagles countered with a 15-3 run that culminated in Carson-Newman's largest lead to that point, at 51-48 with 14:19 left in the game.
The back-and forth struggle continued, with the Eagles taking a 60-52 edge with less than nine minutes left on a 3-pointer from Clark and Carson-Newman went on to lead by 15 twice inside the final four minutes.
The Wolves got as close as 80-72 with 30 seconds left, but were unable to get any closer.
Carson-Newman advances to meet top-seeded Lincoln Memorial, which edged fourth-seeded Queens, 67-64, in the first semifinal round matchup. The tournament championship is slated for Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m.
