Saturday’s South Atlantic Conference opener was a physical, grinding battle that included 67 fouls and 91 free throw attempts combined between the two teams.
Steigerwald shot 11-of-13 from the foul line and hauled in a season-high nine rebounds. Senior Rob Troutman (Mt. Washington, Ky.) posted 14 points and eight boards, while junior Kevin Vest (Dayton, Ohio) tallied a season-best 12 points and three assists in the victory.
Boone, who is coaching in his 25th collegiate season, is the 29th winningest active coach in NCAA Division II. He has recorded 307 of those victories at the DII level, including 79 in his six seasons at Tusculum.
Newberry’s Shamel Akins (Charlotte, N.C.) led all scorers with his 25 points, while Coleman Young (Spartanburg, S.C.) added 11 points off the bench for the Wolves (3-3, 0-1 SAC).
Tusculum went 35-for-46 at the charity stripe for 76.1 percent, while Newberry made 26 of their 45 trips to the line (57.8%). The Pioneers’ 35 free throws made are the fifth-most in school history, while the 46 attempts are tied for the fourth most in a TC single-game. Tusculum’s 34 personal fouls also tied a school single-game record, matching the foul tally against Robert Wesleyan College on Jan. 3, 1994.
The game was a back and forth contest that saw 10 ties and 10 lead changes. Trailing 57-54 with 7:41 remaining in the game, Tusculum went on a 9-0 run over the next 2:22, including a pair of three-pointers by Vest and a Troutman lay-up as the Pioneers led 64-57 with less than five minutes on the clock.
Newberry trimmed the deficit to three following a Brandon Riley (Baltimore, Md.) free throw with 2:46 left. But Tusculum responded with five straight markers, including a three-point play by Steigerwald and a JD Miller (Versailles, Ky.) jumper as TC led 71-63 with 55 seconds left.
Young buried a three-pointer eight seconds later, but the Pioneers made nine of their final 10 free throws down the stretch to seal their fourth consecutive victory over the Wolves.
Tusculum jumped out to a 10-3 lead, including the first six points of the game as the Pioneers made their first three field goal attempts. Newberry answered with a 9-0 spurt, all on three-pointers by Akins, Young and Renard Flowers (Stone Mountain, Ga.) as the Wolves took its first lead of the game at 12-10.
Newberry moved out to its largest advantage of the day at 21-16 following a pair of free throws by Chris Reynolds (Augusta, Ga.). TC responded with a 9-0 run of its own, including five points by Troutman during the spurt as the Pioneers led 26-22 with 5:30 remaining before halftime.
With Tusculum leading 29-25 at the 3:32 mark of the period, Newberry closed out the half with a 10-5 run, thanks to three-pointers by Young and Akins as the Wolves led 35-34 at the intermission.
Tusculum finished the game shooting 55.3 percent from the field, including 11-of-19 (57.9%) in the second half. Newberry was limited to 38 percent shooting on the afternoon, including 9-of-26 (34.6%) in the first period. TC won the rebound-battle (34-29) and out-scored the Wolves 36-18 in the paint.
Tusculum returns home Wednesday night as the Pioneers host Tennessee Wesleyan College for a 7:30 p.m. contest at Pioneer Arena. It will be the second game of a double-header as the Tusculum women will host King College at 5:30 p.m.
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