DUE WEST, S.C. - The Anderson men's basketball built a 16-point second-half lead, then survived a late charge to outlast Erskine, 60-55, in nonconference action for its third consecutive victory Tuesday night at Belk Arena.
Anderson (3-0) won its third straight game to open the season for the first time since the 2009-10 squad won four straight and has now won five of the last six in the rivalry and 11 of the last 15 meetings between the two schools. Erskine slipped to 1-2 on the season with its second straight loss.
"We will take the win," said Anderson head coach Jason Taylor. "(Erskine) is good. We played hard and it was good to win here. To shoot 37 percent on the road and win - we will take it."
Anderson senior guard Chandler Hash, the reigning South Atlantic Conference Player of the Week, scored a team-high 22 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the field. Redshirt junior Chris Ross posted a career-high 16 points and recorded a career-best 12 rebounds for AU's first double-double of the season. The 6-foot-8 center connected on seven-of-nine from the field. Junior guard Myson Jones shared game-high honors with four assists and swiped three steals.
The Trojans' scored the first six points of the contest and
never trailed, building a double-digit, 20-10, advantage with less
than nine minutes on the clock. Erskine responded with a 10-2
outburst to pull within two, but Ross halted the Fleet run with six
straight points. Following a free throw by Erskine's Mike Gabbard,
freshman Tony Dargan added a pair of free throws and Hash closed
the first-half scoring with a 3-pointer, giving Anderson a 33-21
halftime cushion.
AU claimed its largest lead of the contest, 52-36, with 7:48
remaining on sophomore Myles Daniel's trey and the Trojans still
led by double digits with less than three minutes on the clock. The
Fleet's Roderick Perkins then sandwiched a pair of 3s around a
basket by teammate Chris Gore and a free throw by Ross, pulling
Erskine within 58-55 with 1:14 showing on the clock.
The Fleet's Jake Haslam came up with a steal, but misfired on his long-range attempt to even the score at the 51-second mark. Hash answered on the other end with one-of-two from the line with 23 seconds remaining and Ross connected on one-of-two free throws with six seconds left to seal the win.
The victory gave Anderson a commanding 7-0 lead in the race for the coveted Beville Cup, as the Trojans need to one additional point in the spring to secure possession of the trophy for another year.
The Trojans have a well-earned seven-day break before playing
host to South Atlantic Conference opponent Brevard in their
home-opener on Wednesday, Nov. 20. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at
the Abney Athletic Center.
