HICKORY, N.C. - The Anderson men's basketball team suffered its first setback of the season, 74-73, to Lenoir-Rhyne in South Atlantic Conference action Saturday night at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium.

"The deciding factor was the first 35 minutes of the game," said Anderson head coach Jason Taylor. "(Lenoir-Rhyne) executed well and we did not. And we also have to do a better job with offensive rebounding. We did do a good job of giving ourselves a chance to win, though. I am proud of the way we came back."

Bidding to become the first team in school history to win its first five contests of the season, Anderson (4-1, 1-1 SAC) fell behind by as many as 15 points midway through the second half and was unable to recover. Lenoir-Rhyne improved to 3-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play with its second consecutive win.

Anderson junior center Chris Ross opened the scoring with a traditional three-point play and gave the Trojans what turned out to be their largest lead of the contest when he followed with a short jumper less than a minute into the game.

Bears' sophomore guard Will Perry connected on three consecutive free throws at the 12:47 mark of the first half, tying the contest at 12-12, marking the lone tie of the night. Anderson freshman Tony Dargan drained 1-of-2 from the line 17 seconds later, with Perry and Lenoir-Rhyne senior guard RJ. McClure hitting back-to-back treys to regain a brief 18-13 edge for L-R and setting up the first of four lead changes over the next four minutes.
Trailing, 18-17, Ross sandwiched a dunk and a layup around a jumper from L-R's Mark Terell to give the Trojans their final advantage of the night, at 21-20, with 6:32 left in the opening half.

The Bears responded by closing out the half with a 15-4 outburst, taking a 35-25 lead at the break.

AU opened the second stanza by outscoring the Bears, 12-5, and trimmed the deficit to just five at the 13:50 mark, but it was as close as the Trojans would get until the final three minutes of the contest.

Trailing, 61-46, with less than six minutes to play, the Trojans mounted a furious rally, as sophomore Myles Daniel ignited the comeback with his lone 3-pointer of the night. Senior guard CJ Gleaton added three points and guard Chandler Hash contributed five points to fuel the rally, as AU closed the deficit to 65-61 with 2:46 on the clock.

Perry countered with another 3-pointer for Lenoir-Rhyne, but Hash drained a trey and Gleaton added two from the line to pull Anderson within 67-66. But the Bears connected on 7-of-8 from the free throw line inside the final 41 seconds to seal the win, while AU was 4-of-7 from the line in the final moments.

Ross finished with a career-high 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and also recorded six rebounds. Senior guard Chandler Hash added 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field, while Gleaton tossed in 14 points. Junior guard Myson Jones scored nine points, dished out five assists and swiped five steals, with Daniel coming off the bench to tally seven points and share game-high honors with five assists. Senior forward Kyle Sledge collected a game-high nine rebounds.

McClure led all scorers with 29 points, with Perry adding 14 and senior center Matt Kunz chipping in 11 points.

The Trojans close out their two-game SAC road swing by traveling to preseason league-favorite Lincoln Memorial, which was ranked 13th in the nation in the most recent NABC/Division II Coaches' Poll. Tip-off in Harrogate, Tenn., is slated for 8 p.m. Tuesday.