Cleveland's Sanders has record 51 for CN

Freshman Ish Sanders from Cleveland High School set a Carson-Newman College and South Atlantic Conference record Wednesday night with 51 points in a 106-86 basketball victory over Mars Hill.

The 6-foot-2 guard hit 17 of 29 shots from the field, set an Eagles record with 11 3-point baskets, made six free throws and added six rebounds and four steals for the NCAA Division II school in Jefferson City, Tenn.

"I haven't wrapped my head around what happened," Sanders said Thursday night. "I just wanted to create enough offense for us to win. My intentions weren't to score much, but my teammates did a good job of finding me and we were real unselfish."

His high school career high was 38 points. He had 22 in the first half Wednesday and 29 in the second in breaking Chris Jones' school record of 44.

"It's surprising," Sanders said. "I didn't know I was close to breaking Carson-Newman's record, let alone the conference. When they told me, it was all smiles, but I have to thank my teammates and coach. We've had our ups and downs; we started the year as a group but have become a team."

The Eagles are 8-7 in the conference and in fourth place after being voted ninth in the preseason.

"We showed we're better than ninth in the conference and hope to keep that up during the stretch," Sanders said.