BRISTOL, Tenn. – The King University men's basketball team had five players score in double figures Wednesday night as the Tornado cruised past Erskine College, 80-59. King trailed for just 14 seconds in the game.
THE BASICS
FINAL: King 80, Erskine 59
LOCATION: Student Center Complex; Bristol, Tenn.
RECORDS: King 5-12, 2-7 Conference Carolinas; Erskine 3-13, 0-9 Conference Carolinas
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
- After Erskine scored the first bucket, King would score the next seven points, taking a 7-2 lead early on.
- After a dunk by Kenny Turner, Satchel Love drew a foul and knocked down both to put King in front 13-4.
- Erskine hit a quick three, after which King scored the next nine points, taking a 22-7 lead with 9:11 remaining.
- Amarius Beasley hit a three with 7:03 left, which was followed a minute later by Seth Cullen making a driving layup, stretching the lead to 27-11.
- After the Flying Fleet cut the lead to 31-21, King scored the final four points, with Cullen and Jordan Akal hitting jumpers to put King in front 35-21 entering the halftime break.
Second Half
- After starting the half with both teams hitting free throws, the Tornado continued to pull away, with Akal hitting a three and Turner following with a dunk making the lead 42-22.
- After an Erskine timeout, Pocknett came up with a steal and hit the layup before Turner hit an alley-oop from Akal to extend the lead to 46-22.
- Pocknett would later score four in a row, including a driving layup where he drew the foul and hit the ensuing free throw with 10:05 left to play.
- King then scored the next six points, including a three from Almando Cyrius to take a 63-34 lead.
- Erskine would close the gap to 20 with 2:34 to play, but King easily held on for their second straight Conference Carolinas win.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Turner finished with a double-double, scoring 12 points and pulling 10 rebounds.
- He was one of five Tornado to score in double figures, including Pocknett (12), Cullen (11), Cyrius (11) and Love (10.
- This was the best defensive performance of the season for the Tornado, who held Erskine to just 28 percent shooting from the field, the lowest of the season for King.
FOR THE FOES
- Max Peeler and Jayden Bird both scored 12 points for Erskine.
- Jalen Robinson finished with six rebounds and two steals on the night.
UP NEXT
- The Tornado will host the University of Mount Olive Saturday afternoon, with tipoff scheduled for 4 p.m.
- Erskine will play host to Francis Marion University on Saturday as well.
