Men's Basketball

Date: 03.02.2010

Age: 217 days

BRISTOL, Tenn. - King College led for the final 14 minutes in Wednesday's 80-70 home victory over Carson-Newman (Tenn.) College. It was the ninth win over a NCAA Division II foe in the last three seasons.

The Tornado improved to 14-4 and 4-2 in home games this season. Carson-Newman slipped to 9-11.

The opening 20 minutes featured six ties and two lead changes before King took a 40-38 advantage into the locker room. Carson-Newman scored the final five points of the half in a 61-second span or King's lead would have been seven. The game was tied at 33 with 2:45 left in the half before a 7-0 spurt by the Tornado put the squad ahead.

A 7-2 run by the Eagles flew the visitors into the lead in the first three minutes of the final half. Stephen Kite (Atlanta, Ga.) tied the game at 46 with his jumper with 16:22 to go. After Brian Hewitt (Lexington, Ky.) hit a three pointer, the Tornado did not trail again.

King led by as many as 14, 67-53, with 6:15 to go, but 10 straight Carson-Newman points made it a game. The margin would be as small as three, 69-66, but King pulled away down the stretch for the victory.

The win completed the season sweep for King over Carson-Newman as the first game was won 100-87 in Jefferson City on Dec. 12.

Mark Dockery (Nickelsville, Va.) scored 17 points in the first half, but he finished the game with 19. He also grabbed a season-high six rebounds. Elisha Murray (Ft. Myers, Fla.) had 17 with 11 by Hewitt off the bench. Jason Seymore (Powell, Tenn.) grabbed 11 rebounds for his fourth game of the season with at least 10.

Carson-Newman's Darron Maxtion led all scorers with 20 points with 18 from Cameron Sharp. Tray Okoth chipped in 15.

Bench points were an advantage for the Tornado as they scored 26 with only five by Carson-Newman's reserves.

King took advantage of the free-throw line, going 22-for-27 (81.5 percent) with Carson-Newman only 11-for-18 (61.1 percent). Murray was a benefactor of the line going 11-for-12, a season high for any Tornado in both attempts and made free throws in a game.

In 10 of King's 14 wins, the Tornado's margin of victory has been at least 10 points including Wednesday's game. The average margin of victory in all 14 games was lowered to 19.9 per game after Wednesday's contest.

The Tornado return to the Student Center as the team hosts Virginia Intermont College for a 7:30 p.m. game Saturday. King looks to sweep the season series against the cross-town rivals. The Tornado won the first game 81-39 in Virginia High on Jan. 2.