ANDERSON, S.C. - Paced by senior guard Nick Jackson's career-high 22 points, the Anderson men's basketball team defeated Mars Hill, 59-49, in South Atlantic Conference action, Wednesday night at the Abney Athletic Center.

Anderson (8-7, 4-5 SAC) claimed its sixth victory in the last eight outings with its fifth consecutive home win and seventh straight decision past the Lions. Mars Hill slipped to 7-8 overall and 2-7 in league play with its fifth consecutive loss.

Jackson posted his career night on 8-of-14 shooting from the field, including 6-of-11 accuracy from beyond the arc, and recorded five rebounds. Senior guard Myson Jones added 15 points and dished out a game-high five assists. Senior center Chris Ross chipped in eight points, with senior DJ McGowan pulling down a game-high seven rebounds.

Mars Hill junior guard Kevin Haynes led the Lions with 13 points off the bench, while fellow guard Patrick Monroe scored 12 points.

The Trojans won the rebounding battle, 35-29, and pulled down 11 offensive boards. Anderson also out-shot the Lions, 42.3 percent to 34.0 percent on the night, while forcing 13 Mars Hill turnovers and committing 12 miscues.

The contest was tied twice in the early going, but AU's Jones drained the game's first 3-pointer just 29 seconds into the contest and the Trojans never trailed. Monroe evened the score moments later with the first of his four 3-pointers on the night, while Ross dropped in a layup at the 17:32 mark of the first half to give Anderson a 5-3 advantage.

The two squads then suffered though a scoring drought than spanned more than three minutes, with Ross's second basket of the night snapping the scoreless stretch. Following a pair of free throws from the Lions' Isaiah Cuthbertson, the Spartanburg, S.C., native then added another close jumper that triggered a 13-3 run that boosted the Trojans' advantage to double digits, at 18-8. Jones helped fuel the outburst with back-to-back 3-pointers and Jackson capped the surge with a trey at the 9:25 mark.

With four different players contributing on the offensive end, the Trojans then posted an 11-4 run to build their largest lead of the game, at 29-12, with less than six minutes left in the opening half. But the Lions roared back, countering with a 13-2 outburst of their own to close the half and trim the AU lead to 31-25 at the break.

Cuthbertson extended the Mars Hill run by opening the second-half scoring with a layup, with Jackson snapping the surge with a long 3-pointer. The Grandview, Mo., native quickly added two more treys, with his sixth 3-pointer giving AU a 40-31 edge with 15:29 left in the contest. But Mars Hill chipped away and strayed within striking distance, with junior Brandon McCarter's lone trey of the night pulling the Lions within 44-42 with just less than eight minutes remaining in the game.

Senior Alani Adekambi answered with a trey from the left corner and Jackson quickly followed with another long-range 3-pointer from the right side to give the Trojans an eight-point margin and the Lions would get no closer over the final six minutes of action.

The Trojans travel to Hickory, N.C., on Saturday looking to avenge their first South Atlantic Conference loss of the season, when they square off against Lenoir-Rhyne in league action. Tip-off versus the Bears is set for 4 p.m. at Shuford Gymnasium.