MARS HILL, N.C. - With four players reaching double figures in the scoring column, the Anderson men's basketball team wrapped up the regular season by defeating Mars Hill, 84-66, Saturday afternoon at Stanford Arena.
Anderson (18-8, 14-4 SAC) clinched the No. 2 seed in next week's Food Lion SAC Tournament and a loss by Lincoln Memorial later tonight would secure the Trojans a share of the SAC regular-season championship, which would mark AU's second SAC title in as many years. Mars Hill ended its season at 4-22 overall and 1-17 in the conference.
Anderson junior guard Chandler Hash led all scorers with 24 points, while sophomore guard Myson Jones recorded a career-high 22 points and six assists. Forward Bo Holston posted his first double-double with the Black and Gold with 18 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Junior forward Kyle Sledge narrowly missed his second double-double of the season with 10 points and nine rebounds.
Khouraichi Thiam led the Lions with 22 points and pulled down a
game-high 15 rebounds. Carter Wright and Myles Tate notched 14
points and 13 points, respectively.
Mars Hill scored the first points of the game on a layup by Thiam
less than a minute into the contest, but Jones answered with the
first of his three 3-pointers on the day to give the Trojans a lead
they would not relinquish.
Leading, 10-8, at the 15:06 mark of the first half, AU went on a
17-4 run to take a 27-12 advantage, with Hash leading the surge by
scoring eight points, with Jones tossing in five.
The Trojans built a 36-19 lead with 3:43 left in the half and took a 39-26 advantage into the locker room.
Mars Hill climbed within nine at the 7:35 mark of the second half
on a Thiam dunk, but AU answered with a 15-2 outburst and claimed
its largest lead of the game, 78-56, with 2:37 remaining.
The Trojans open the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament
as the second seed and will host seventh-seeded Catawba in a
quarterfinal-round game on Wednesday at 8 p.m. at the Abney
Athletic Center.
