ANDERSON, S.C. - The Anderson men's basketball team connected on a season-high 92.3 percent (24-of-26) from the free throw line, as the Trojans opened a two-game South Atlantic Conference homestand with a 73-63 win over Carson-Newman, Wednesday night at the Abney Athletic Center.

Anderson improved to 12-13 overall and 8-11 in the conference by claiming its fourth win in the last six games and earned a split of the season series by avenging an earlier 14-point loss to the Eagles. Carson-Newman (13-12, 11-8 SAC) lost for just the second time in eight games.

Anderson and Carson-Newman battled to a draw on the glass, as each team pulled down 24 rebounds, but the Trojans forced a season-high 19 turnovers and converted the miscues into 21 points. Fueled by senior Chris Ross's season-high 18 points, Anderson outscored the Eagles, 24-14, in the paint.

In addition to Ross's game-high points tally, the 6-foot-8 center shared game-high rebounding honors with four on the night and was also a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe. Freshman Maurice Howard netted 12 points and was a perfect 10-of-10 from the line, including six straight inside the final 95 seconds of the game. Senior Nick Jackson added 11 points in 22 minutes of action, while senior Myson Jones handed out a game-high six assists in the Trojans' wire-to-wire victory.

Sophomore forward Sawyer Williams led the Eagles with 15 points, including 11 in the first half, with Christian Harris tossing in 14 points.

With Ross scoring the Trojans' first eight points of the contest and Matthew McClain adding the next five for the Black and Gold, Anderson jumped out to a 13-8 lead inside the first five minutes of the game. McClain, who was hampered by early foul trouble, capped the opening surge with a steal and a dunk at the 15:39 mark.

Five minutes later, senior DJ McGowan drained his lone 3-pointer of the night from deep on the right wing to boost the Trojans' advantage to 19-11 midway through the opening half. Harris countered with back-to-back 3-pointers for the Eagles and junior Josh Rogers added a pair of free throws to trim Anderson's lead to just 21-19, but AU's Alani Adekambi snapped the Eagles' run with a turnaround jumper in the paint and sparked a 6-0 surge, with Howard adding four consecutive free throws.

With AU holding the 25-19 edge, Williams converted a traditional three-point play to pull Carson-Newman within 25-22 with less than seven minutes on the clock. But it was as close as the Eagles would get the rest of the night, as Howard dropped in a driving layup, while Jackson and Jones knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to give AU a double-digit, 33-22, lead. The Trojans maintained the double-figure advantage over the final 4:19 of the half and claimed a 43-32 cushion at the break.

The Trojans connected on just one of their first six shot attempts to open the second stanza, while Carson-Newman nailed three of its first four to close the gap to 46-41 before Tre' fields and Jackson responded with a pair of treys that gave AU a 52-41 lead.

Carson-Newman cut the Trojans' lead to five on two occasions inside the final seven minutes and climbed within 67-63 on a 3-pointer by freshman Charles Clark with 1:34 remaining. With the Eagles forced to foul in the final moments, Howard stepped to the line and calmly sank all six of his free throws to seal the win.

Anderson wraps up its homestand on Saturday as Coker invades the Abney Center for the second meeting of the season between the Trojans and Cobras. The Trojans will be looking to even the season series after falling, 80-65, in Hartsville on January 10. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.