Boxscore HARROGATE, Tenn. – A steady second half surge compounded by a first half deficit would be too much to overcome as Clayton State (0-2, 0-0 PBC) dropped a 78-61 decision to Tusculum (2-0, 0-0 SAC) in an NCAA Division II men's basketball game on Saturday, November 9.
 
Redshirt-sophomore Bryan Hart (Hampton, Va.) had an impressive performance as he finished with 18 points, nine rebounds and a pair of steals in 39 minutes while junior forward John Mason (Avon Park, Fla.) added 11 points and four boards. Senior guard Kyle Kincey (Tallahassee, Fla.) had seven points and a game-high tying six assists and freshman forward Mehdi Pissis (Sartrouville, France) chipped in with 10 points, four caroms and three assists.
 
The teams would trade the lead early on before deadlocking at 6-6 three minutes in but it wouldn't stay that way. At that point Tusculum put together an 8-0 run that gave them a 14-6 advantage by the 14:10 mark. The Lakers answered with back-to-back triples from Hart and Pissis to cut it to a two point deficit a little over two minutes later but once again the Pioneers would have an answer of their own.
 
This time it would come in the form of a 12-2 outburst that stretched their lead to 26-14 with 7:10 left in the half. A 7-2 run by Clayton State would then cut it to a seven point margin but the charge would end there as TU matched that to end the half and take a 35-23 lead into the break.
 
The Pioneers would take the way they ended the first half and replicate it over the final 20 minutes as they would not see their lead fall below double-digits the rest of the way. They would eventually push to a 19 point advantage, 62-43, with 5:07 to play before closing out the 78-61 victory minutes later.
 
Brandon Mitchell paced Tusculum with 17 points and seven boards while Tariq Jenkins had 15 points and five caroms. Trenton Gibson added 12 points and six rebounds and Joshua Scott just missed a double-double with 11 points and seven boards. Caleb Hodnett was right there with him at nine points and nine rebounds while Dillon Smith rounded things out with seven points and six assists.
 
The Lakers return to action on Saturday, November 16 for their home opener when they take on West Georgia. Game time is set for 4 p.m. at The Loch.