Franck Ndongo led the Jaguars (2-0) with a game-high 14 points while the Augusta State defense converted 17 Tusculum turnovers into 22 points and its bench outscored the Pioneer reserves by a 20-5 margin.
Justin Steigerwald paced the Pioneers (0-2) with 13 points and six rebounds, while Kevin Vest chipped in with eight points and a game-high five assists. Foul shooting proved to be the difference in the game, as the Jaguars went 18-for-23 at the stripe while the Pioneers finished just 7-for-9 as a team.
Three-point shooting helped the Pioneers to an 18-11 lead with 8:42 left in the first half. Steigerwald hit back-to-back threes to give Tusculum a 10-8 lead, then Matt Darnell and Rob Troutman connected from long range as part of an 8-0 Pioneer run.
However, the Jaguars roared back to score 16 of the half's final 17 points to take a 27-19 lead into halftime. Ben Purser sank a pair of three-pointers and tallied eight points during the run while Tye Beal added five points for Augusta State.
Purser led all players with eight points in 10 minutes off the bench for Augusta State in the first half, with Caleb Brown adding six points. Steigerwald paced Tusculum with seven points in the first half, as the Pioneers shot 33.3 percent (7-for-21) from the field but 4-for-8 from three-point range.
Tusculum trimmed the deficit to 29-23 on a layup by Dionte Grey with 17:23 to play, but a three-point play by Beal and consecutive baskets by Caleb Brown and Johnson pushed the Jaguars ahead 36-23 with 13:31 to go. The Pioneers fought back to within seven points at 40-33 with 8:55 left, but went scoreless for the next 6 1/2 minutes while the Jaguars scored eight straight points to go ahead 48-33 with 2:44 to go.
The Pioneers went 8-for-17 (47.1 percent) from the field in the second half to finish at 39.5 percent (15-for-38) in the contest. Augusta State was 7-for-23 (30.4 percent) on field goals in the second half and finished at 37.2 percent (16-for-43) overall.
Tusculum enjoyed a 29-26 edge in rebounding, but committed 17 turnovers while forcing the Jaguars into 10 miscues. Troutman finished with a game-high seven rebounds for the Pioneers, followed by Tommy Klempin and Steigerwald with six boards apiece. Ndongo and Johnson shared the team lead for Augusta State with four rebounds each.
The Pioneers will be back in action Monday night at Pioneer Arena against Hiwassee in a non-conference matchup beginning at 7 p.m.
Visit tusculumpioneers.com for the latest news and info on Tusculum College Athletics.
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