Saturday, January 18, 2003

EAGLES KNOCK OFF BLUE HOSE 79-75  

JEFFERSON CITY , TN.- The Carson-Newman Eagles were victorious over Presbyterian Blue Hose 79-75 Saturday night in South Atlantic Conference (SAC) men's basketball action.

The Carson-Newman Eagles took sole possession of first place in the conference as they withstood a fierce second-half comeback from the Blue Hose.

C-N was led in scoring by Calvin Owen (Nashville, Tenn.) who pumped in 23 points, 15 of which came from three-point range. Dustin Edwards  (Erwin, Tenn.) had 17 points and Kyle Gribble (Sparta, Tenn.) added 12 points, seven assists and five rebounds. 

The Blue Hose were led in scoring by Jeff Whittle’s (Strasburg, Va.) 17 points, all in the first half. Chuck Rayford (Greenville, S.C.) and Michael Drum (Rural Hall, N.C.) added 13 points each and Rod Isom (Anderson, S.C.) finished with 12 points.

The Eagles won the game despite not hitting a single field goal in the final 9:49 of the game. The Eagles were 26-of-36 (72.2%) from the line compared to 13-of-18 (72.2%) from the Blue Hose. C-N built a 42-35 lead through the first 20 minutes of action and padded the lead to 16 points on a dunk by Marquis Foster (Greenville, S.C.) with 9:49 remaining in the game. That would be the final field goal of the game for C-N as they had to rely on free throws down the stretch to seal the win. 

Carson-Newman moves into sole possession of the conference lead at 3-0 and improves to 11-4 overall. The Blue Hose stand at 14-4, 1-2 in SAC play. C-N plays at Lenoir-Rhyne on Jan. 22 and Presbyterian travels to Mars Hill.

Box Score