GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - Remarkable performances from Demarcus Threatt and Miles Leathers were not enough to lift Brevard to its fifth victory in the last six meetings with Tusculum as the homestanding Pioneers earned a 96-81 in both teams' South Atlantic Conference opener.

Threatt exploded for 22 points in the second half on his way to 34 for the game, tying Trevon Shaw and Dominique Pickett for third-most in a single game since Brevard (0-4, 0-1 SAC) ascended to the NCAA ranks prior to the 2008-09 season. Remarkably, all three players accomplished the feat at Pioneer Arena, giving Brevard a 34-point scorer in each of its last three trips to Greeneville.

The Fairfield University transfer knocked down half of his 24 field goal attempts on the evening but shot at a 64.7-percent clip inside the three-point arc. While Threatt made several highlight reel-worthy contributions, his most outstanding play came with Tusculum (3-1, 1-0 SAC) leading 5-3, when the 5'10" junior ignited the Brevard contingent by taking a pass from Leathers and elevating for a thunderous dunk in transition.

Leathers had his first double-double of the season with 18 points and 12 rebounds, going 6-for-11 from the field. With a free throw in the final minute of the first half, he surpassed Gaither Hendrix for fifth on Brevard's NCAA-era scoring list. The senior now has 894 career points, exactly 50 behind Pickett for fourth in school NCAA-era history.

Neither team was able to gain significant separation until an 11-0 run put Tusculum ahead 27-15 with 8:40 remaining in the first half. Five different Pioneers scored during the stretch while Tusculum flexed its muscles defensively, holding Brevard scoreless over nine straight possessions. The Tornados were unable to cut the deficit to less than six points during the rest of the half and went into the locker room trailing 41-33.

Brevard struggled to chip away at the Tusculum lead through much of the second half as well, moving to within five points with 14:53 remaining before the Pioneers upped their lead to 12 points moments later. Brevard was undone by Tusculum's penchant for getting to the foul line late in the second half, as seven Tusculum points in a 12-2 run that grew its lead to 18 points came from the charity stripe.

Tusculum was paced by 29 points from Darius Carter, who knocked down nine of his 14 field goal attempts and added 10 points from the line. Javon Price and Zach Davis added 15 and 14, respectively, to help Tusculum to its highest scoring output of the season. Tusculum went 7-for-22 from beyond the arc in the game, marking the 780th time in the last 781 games that the Pioneers have knocked down at least one triple.

The Tornados outrebounded their counterparts for the second straight game and held a slim 42-40 advantage in the paint, but the Pioneers' bench outpaced the Tornados' reserves by a 32-8 margin. Evan Dunham scored a career-high six points in the contest, while Alex Moe continued his recent surge with 12 points and seven rebounds and Omar El Diraoui contributed nine points, four rebounds, and a pair of steals in limited minutes necessitated by foul trouble.

The loss was just Brevard's second in the last six meetings with Tusculum, a string dating back to an 85-76 win in the 2012-13 season finale. The Pioneers defended their home floor for the first time since February 2013, avenging a 22-point loss two seasons ago and a dramatic two-point Brevard victory punctuated by a game-winning layup with 2.3 seconds remaining in January. It was the second straight matchup in which the Tornados have scored 81 points against Tusculum.

Brevard is now 4-5 against former Brevard head coach Michael Jones, who departed following the 2010-11 season to take over the Pioneers' program. Jones skippered the Tornados for 12 seasons and oversaw the transition from a fledgling four-year program into Division II with a stop in the NAIA in between. Jones led the team to one of its best-ever seasons with a 21-10 finish, SAC Tournament championship, and the program's only NCAA Tournament bid in 2009-10.

The Tornados will enjoy a brief break for the Thanksgiving holiday before returning to action on Sunday, Nov. 29 in the team's only nonconference home game of the season. Tipoff between the Tornados and Lees-McRae is set for 4:00 p.m.

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Featured image courtesy of Shawn Millsaps.