Box Score by John Hackney
GREENVILLE, Tenn-Senior guards Jaren Haley and Aaron Suggs scored 22 and 19 points, respectively, on Saturday evening to lead the Barton College men's basketball team to an 89-69 win over host Tusculum.
The Bulldogs of 15th-year head coach Ron Lievense evened their record at 1-1 while finishing play in the South Atlantic Conference/Conference Carolinas Challenge. Barton lost to Anderson University 84-78 on Friday evening. Mount Olive exited the event at 2-0 overall after topping Anderson 75-67 on Saturday while Anderson was 1-1 and Tusculum 0-2.
Haley was 7-of-14 from the floor, including 3-of-7 from 3-point land, in pacing the Bulldogs. He also snared a game-high eight rebounds. Suggs sank 6-of-10 shots and made two treys. Senior forward R.D. Dowdy added 10 points and five boards.
Tommy Kiempin was the lone Pioneer in double figures with 14 points.
Barton, which led for much of Friday's game before falling, came out on fire Saturday and never looked back. The Bulldogs led 45-29 at intermission and ran the lead to 29 points at 88-59 with 3:32 left before reserves finished out the game.
Barton's pressure defense was too much to handle for Tusculum, which commited 25 turnovers. The Bulldogs only had 12 turnovers and shot 46 percent (29-of-63) from the floor, including 9-of-20 (45 percent) from beyond the arc. Tusculum, which plays with a deliberate-style offense, was 21-of-43 (48.8 percent) from the floor, but was only 1-of-9 from downtown.
The game also featured 73 foul shots. Barton was 22-of-32 for 68.8 percent and Tusculum hit 26-of-41 for 63.4 percent. The Pioneers claimed a slim 38-36 rebounding edge.
