ANDERSON, S.C. - A late first-half surge lifted the Anderson men's basketball team to a 90-79 upset win past fifth-ranked Lincoln Memorial Saturday afternoon at the Abney Athletic Center.
Anderson (16-10, 10-6) won its second consecutive game and avoided a season sweep at the at the hands of the league-leading Railsplitters. Lincoln Memorial (22-2, 14-2 SAC) suffered its second consecutive league setback.
LMU built an 18-11 lead inside the opening six minutes by connecting on six of its first nine shots, including three 3-pointers, but the Trojans battled back to knot the score at 24 apiece and again at 26-26 with 5:31 left in the opening half. Junior Taylor Shugart's short jumper in the paint ignited a 12-0 Anderson run and gave the Trojans a lead they would not relinquish. A pair of 3s bookended the outburst, first from Oskars Ernsteins and freshman Denzail Jones capped the surge with a trey at the 1:09 mark.
The Railsplitters closed the half with six unanswered points and AU held a 38-32 at the break.
The second half saw Anderson extend the lead to 14 points with 15:48 left in the contest and the double-digit lead held firm until LMU closed within 80-74 with just more than two minutes remaining. Senior guard Brandon Young connected with a 3-pointer and Jones followed an LMU basket with five straight points as AU quickly rebuilt the cushion to 12 points inside the final minute.
Jones led all scorers with 22 points off the bench, while Young added 17 points and a game-high seven assists. Ernsteins scored 11 and Shugart chipped in 10 points.
LMU was led by D'Mario Curry's 21 points and nine rebounds. Johnson and Brandon
Anderson closes out the regular season with a two-game road
swing, starting with Wingate on Wednesday. Tip-off is scheduled for
8 p.m. at Cuddy Arena.
