ANDERSON, S.C. - Sophomore Keith Griffin's driving layup with less than three seconds on the clock lifted Wingate to a dramatic, 59-57, win past Anderson in South Atlantic Conference men's basketball action Saturday afternoon at the Abney Athletic Center.

Anderson slipped to 10-12 overall on the season and 6-10 in the conference, while Wingate (13-9, 10-6 SAC) earned a split of the season series with its third straight victory.

Wingate edged the Trojans on the boards, 28-27, but Anderson claimed a 10-6 advantage in second-chance points on the afternoon. The Trojans forced nine Bulldog turnovers, while committing 10 miscues - their lowest total since turning the ball over just 10 times against Lenoir-Rhyne in mid-January.

Senior center Chris Ross led the Trojans with 16 points on the afternoon, while senior DJ McGowan added 14 points and five rebounds off the bench. Freshman Matthew McClain tossed in eight points and shared game-high rebounding honors with seven boards.

Wingate freshman guard Zeriq Lolar dropped in a game-high 17 points, including a put-back that gave Wingate a one-point lead with 1:39 left in the contest. Junior Xavier Griffin recorded 14 points, with Isiah Griffin netting 12 points and collecting seven rebounds.

The game featured eight ties and nine lead changes, with the teams trading the advantage three times inside the final three minutes.

The Trojans jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead, as McClain and Ross provided the early offense, with the four-point lead proving to be the Trojans' largest advantage of the contest.

With Anderson holding a narrow, 8-7, lead at the 15:37 mark, the Bulldogs reeled off seven unanswered points to take a six-point advantage with 13:20 left in the opening half. But Myson Jones and McClain answered with back-to-back 3-pointers, first from the top of the circle, then from deep in the left corner, to knot the score for the second time of the afternoon.

Wingate responded with five straight points to push out to a 19-14 edge, as the Trojans battled to overcome the Bulldogs' 7-of-12 shooting through the first nine minutes with 60 percent accuracy of their own.

With the score tied at 21 apiece with seven minutes left in the first half, McGowan dropped in a layup that gave the Trojans a two-point lead. However, the Bulldogs countered with ab 7-0 surge that gave Wingate a lead it would hold for the next 18 minutes of the contest. With the Bulldogs holding a 28-23 lead, sophomore Rakish Taylor grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on a close jumper to set the score at 28-25 at intermission.

The Trojans misfired on their first two shots of the second half, while Wingate took its largest lead of the game, at 32-25, inside the first two minutes of the half. But AU closed the gap with five unanswered points on a layup from Jones and a Jackson 3-pointer with less than 17 minutes left. The Trojans trimmed the deficit to one point on four occasions over the next eight minutes of action, but were unable to recapture the lead until McGowan nailed a 3-pointer from deep on the left side to give AU a 47-46 edge with 7:27 on the clock. Freshman guard Maurice Howard extended the lead to four by connecting on three free throws to equal the Trojans' largest lead.

With the Trojans holding a 52-50 lead, Lolar connected on his third 3-pointer, as Wingate reclaimed a brief 53-52 lead with just more than a minute remaining, before McGowan drained two from the line to give AU the lead at 54-53. Lolar answered with a layup and a pair of free throws from Xavier Griffin built the Bulldogs' edge to three with just 19.8 seconds left.

McGowan countered with a clutch trey from deep in the left corner for his seventh straight point, evening the score at 57-57 with less than eight seconds left. Following a 30-second timeout, the Bulldogs inbounded the ball, with sophomore Athanee Doyle finding Keith Griffin for the game-winning score with 2.6 seconds on the clock. The Trojans had one last opportunity, but were unable to convert before the horn sounded.

Anderson gets back on the hardwood by opening a two-game road swing at Mars Hill on Wednesday. The Trojans will be looking for a sweep of the season series after knocking off the Lions, 59-49, in the season's first meeting between the two teams. Tip-off versus the Lions is slated for 8 p.m.