ANDERSON, S.C. - With three players reaching double figures, including senior Myson Jones with a career-high 25 points, Anderson overcame a sluggish start to defeat longtime rival Erskine, 75-69, in nonconference men's basketball action Tuesday night at the Abney Athletic Center.

"It was a tale of two halves," said Anderson head coach Jason Taylor. "We took care of the ball in the second half and Myson got going [offensively]. We need to keep rebounding the ball."

Anderson (5-5) wrapped up its longest homestand of the season and closed the nonconference portion of the schedule with its third straight win, while moving to .500 for the first time this season. The Trojans have won two straight and six of the last seven matchups with the Flying Fleet, while Erskine had its two-game win streak snapped and slipped to 3-5 on the season.

Jones posted 22 points in the decisive second half, while senior Chris Ross nearly recorded his second double-double of the season with 15 points and eight rebounds. Senior guard Alani Adekambi posted 14 points and seven rebounds, with freshman guard Maurice Howard sharing game-high honors with four assists on the night.

Erskine senior guard DeShaun Hall led all scorers with 26 points, while teammate Ray Lock tallied 10 points for the Fleet.

The Trojans came up empty on their first four possessions of the game, while Erskine connected on seven of its first 12 attempts, including a red-hot 5-of-7 performance from beyond the arc, as the Fleet steadily built a 20-9 lead with 12:13 left in the first half. Hall led the way for Erskine in the opening minutes, connecting on three of his six treys on the night in the first nine minutes of the game.

Trailing by the double-digit tally, guard Nick Jackson triggered a 12-0 run by AU that gave the Trojans their first lead of the contest. Freshman Tre' Fields came off the bench to fuel the outburst with five points during the run, with sophomore Tony Dargan capping the surge with a bucket at the 7:40 mark.

The 21-20 advantage was short-lived, however, as the Flying Fleet's Arvel Atwater quickly countered with a 3-pointer to regain the lead for Erskine. The lead changed hands twice inside the final four minutes of the frame before the Flying Fleet closed the half with six unanswered points to claim a 31-26 halftime advantage.

Jones and Hall each traded a pair of 3-pointers to open the second half and with Erskine holding a 37-29 edge with less than 19 minutes left in the game, the Trojans posted a 10-2 run to knot the score for the first time of the night at 39 apiece. Jones connected on three of his game-high seven 3-pointers in a span of 2:10 to lead the comeback. The senior from Aiken, S.C. added another trey at the 15:53 mark to help the Trojans take a 42-41 lead.

With AU clinging to a 45-44 advantage, Ross scored six of the Trojans' next eight points as the Black and Gold eased out to a 53-49 lead.

Neither team was able to build more than a three-point advantage over the next five minutes with the lead changing hands three times before Jones' final 3-pointer of the night from the left wing gave the Trojans the lead for good, at 63-60, with 4:09 on the clock.

Holding a 67-64 edge with less than two minutes left, Adekambi dropped in a layup, Ross followed a missed 3-pointer by Hall with a dunk and Jones drained two from the line to give the Trojans their largest lead of the game, 73-64, with 32 seconds on the clock. The Fleet closed out the contest by sandwiching a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer around another slam by Ross to set the final margin.

The Trojans jump back into South Atlantic Conference action for a brief one-game road swing at Wingate on Saturday. The SAC contest also marks AU's final game of 2014, as the Trojans will take a two-week break for the holidays following the matchup. Tip-off versus the Bulldogs is set for 2 p.m.

With the sweep by both the men's and women's basketball teams, Anderson currently leads Erskine, 6-1.5, in the point standings for the coveted Beville Cup after sweeping both men's and women's soccer and men's and women's cross country. Two more points are needed to clinch the Beville Cup for yet another year.

Last year, AU claimed possession of the Cup for the second consecutive year and sixth time in the last eight years in the rivalry between Anderson and Erskine, by a 12-3.5 point margin - the largest margin of victory for the Trojans in the competition's 11-year history, surpassing AU's back-to-back eight-point triumphs in 2007 and 2008.