HARTSVILLE, S.C. --- Bryce Jackson scored a game-high 20 points to lead five Pioneers in double-figure scoring as Tusculum won 89-75 at Coker Friday afternoon in South Atlantic Conference men's basketball action.
TU (8-10, 4-8 SAC) snaps a five-game losing streak, while ending a three-year skid at the DeLoach Center. The Cobras (1-17, 0-12) suffer its 17th straight loss.
Amari Allen went 5-of-7 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the free throw line as he tallied 15 points to go along with his team-high nine rebounds. TJ Printup and Jordan Attia added 14 points apiece while Wesley Johnson finish with 13 markers including three 3-pointers.
The Coker duo of Predrag Panisic and Jonah Vaysbakh each had 18 points for the home team.
Tusculum went 12-of-24 from three-point territory including 8-of-11 from downtown in the second half.
The Cobras jumped out to a 15-6 lead in the opening 5:04 as Panisic scored seven points during the run. Trailing 19-10, the Pioneers answered with an 11-4 spurt to trim the deficit to 23-21 thanks to a tip-in by J3 Swindell.
Coker pushed the lead back to five at 26-21 following a Ryan Webster three-pointer. The teams traded baskets as the Cobras went up 30-26 with six minutes left in the period.
The Pioneers responded with a 15-0 run over a span of 3:28 as Tusculum led 41-30 following an Amari Allen layup.
The Pioneers bounced back from missing 10 of its first 12 shots to making 15 of its next 22 to take a 10-point advantage into the locker room.
After Vaysbakh buried a triple to start the second period, Tusculum scored six straight including back-to-back jumpers from Printup as the Pioneers led 51-38 with 17:29 remaining.
With TU up 55-45, the Pioneers went on a 9-0 run as Printup, Johnson and Allen each hit a three-pointer as the visitors took their largest lead of the game at 64-45 with 13:54 on the clock.
Coker would trim the deficit to a dozen on two occasions down the stretch including 69-57 following an Austin Glasscho three-point play with 7:44 to go
But Tusculum would maintain its double-digit lead for the remainder of the game as they posted the 14-point road victory.
Coker outshot Tusculum as the Cobras went 28-of-57 for 49.1 percent including 12-of-27 from three-point land. After the cold start, TU finished shooting 47 percent (33-of-71) including 16-of-30 in the second half (53%).
The Pioneers held a 41-29 edge in rebounding including 15-4 on the offensive glass, resulting in a dozen second-chance points. TU went 11-of-13 from the free throw line, while Coker went 7-of-9 from the charity stripe.
For Jackson, it was his second straight 20-point performance and 18th of his career. He also moved two spots up the TU scoring chart as his 1,074 career points are 27th all-time in program history. He moves past Doug DeBusk (1,062: 1991-1995) and Reggie Turner (1,069: 1989-1991). Jackson needs three points to surpass Brad Hawks (1,076: 2001-2005).
Tusculum continues its three-game road swing on Wednesday as they may the short road trip to Jefferson City to take on Carson-Newman for a 7:30 p.m. contest at Holt Fieldhouse.
