HARROGATE, Tenn. - Forward Bo Holston converted a traditional three-point play with just 3.3 seconds left to lift the Anderson men's basketball team to a stunning 67-66 upset over 12th-ranked Lincoln Memorial in South Atlantic Conference play Saturday afternoon at Tex Turner Arena.
Anderson improved to 8-4 overall and 4-0 in the league by recording its fifth consecutive win past the Railsplitters and took a 5-1 lead in the overall series, while No. 12 Lincoln Memorial slipped to 10-2 overall and 3-1 in the conference and had its win streak halted at four.
The victory marked Anderson's second win of the season over a team ranked in the top-25, after defeating 11th-ranked Montevallo in November.
In a game that featured 12 ties and 17 lead changes, Holston took an inbounds pass from senior guard Denzail Jones and drew a foul on LMU's Jake Troyli while dropping in his first field goal of the contest to knot the score at 66-66. Following a 30-second timeout called by Railsplitters' head coach Josh Schertz, Holston, who entered the game shooting 70.8 percent from the line, calmly sank the free throw to give Anderson the lead.
LMU senior guard Cam Carden, who finished with five points, fired off a heavily-contested shot at the buzzer, but was unable to connect for the game-winner.
The Trojans pushed out to their largest lead of the game, at 59-51, on two free throws from sophomore guard Myson Jones with 5:26 left and following a 3-pointer from Carden, AU'S DJ McGowan drained a trey to equal the lead, at 62-54, with less than five minutes remaining.
The Railsplitters answered with 12 unanswered points to claim a 66-62 advantage, but were unable to score again over the final 1:47.
LMU had possession of the ball and the four-point lead, when Myson Jones swiped the ball and drew a foul on Troyli with just more than a minute remaining. Jones pulled the Trojans within 66-64 with two from the line, setting up the final-second heroics.
Denzail Jones, the reigning South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year, led all players with 24 points. Chandler Hash scored 11 points in the contest on the strength of 3-of-4 treys.
The Trojans shot 41.2 percent (21-of-51) from the field, but was 11-of-21 (52.4%) from beyond the arc. Myson Jones tallied nine points off the bench, while McGowan notched eight points. Kyle Sledge led the Trojans to a 34-29 advantage on the glass with a career-high 14 rebounds.
The Railsplitters were led by senior guard Wally Jones' 17 points, while sophomore guard Lorenza Ross added 13 points. Junior forward Vincent Bailey tossed in eight points and recorded a team-high eight rebounds. CJ Wakeley netted nine points, with seven coming late in the second half.
The Trojans wrap up their conference road swing at Tusculum on
Wednesday, then play host to Carson-Newman one week from today.
Tip-off versus the Pioneers is slated for 8 p.m.
