MARS HILL, N.C. - With four players reaching double figures, Mars Hill held off a late second-half rally by the Trojans and posted its third win in four outings by defeating Anderson, 81-74, in South Atlantic Conference men's basketball action Wednesday night at Stanford Arena.

Following a five-day layoff that saw last weekend's road contest at Queens postponed, Anderson fell to 5-13 overall and 3-9 in league play with its fifth consecutive loss, while Mars Hill (8-9, 4-7 SAC) earned a split of the season series with its third win in four outings.

Anderson freshman Randall Shaw led all scorers with 26 points on 10-of-21 shooting, while also recording six rebounds. Sophomore guard Maurice Howard added 13 points and handed out four assists for the Trojans, with guard Tre' Fields notching 11 points. Redshirt freshman Marquez Fisher came off the bench to lead the Trojans with nine boards in 16 minutes of action.

Patrick Monroe led the Lions with 22 points, while Justin Yeargin tallied 13 points and Michael Carson notched 12 points. Jalen Witherspoon chipped in 11 points for Mars Hill and Tyree Griffin pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.

Mars Hill held a 42-41 rebounding edge and converted 18 Trojan turnovers into 22 points, while AU offset the difference by outscoring the Lions, 38-26, in the paint. The Trojans also out-shot Mars Hill 47.5 percent to 35.7 percent, but the Lions connected on four more 3-pointers.

The Trojans misfired on their first five field goal attempts, with the slow start enabling the Lions to jump out to a 6-0 lead inside the opening four minutes of the contest. Rakish Taylor got the Trojans on the scoreboard with a close basket at the 15:34 mark of the opening half, with Mars Hill taking an 8-2 advantage into the first media break.

After falling behind 11-2 with 13:49 left, Anderson trimmed the Lions' lead to 15-11 behind four straight points from Shaw, then pulled within three when Lex Davis connected on one-of-two from the line with 11:52 on the clock. Mars Hill quickly rebuilt its lead to eight, but the Trojans chipped away with a 10-2 scoring outburst and knotted the score for the first time of the night, at 22-22, when Tony Dargan dropped in a layup with more than six minutes remaining in the opening frame.

Neither team was able to snap the deadlock until MHU's Valentine Bauer connected on a 3-pointer with 4:50 on the clock, with Shaw answering with a layup and Taylor following with another jumper to give the Trojans their first lead of the contest, at 26-25, with 3:32 left. The advantage was brief, however, as Yeargin countered with a jumper for Mars Hill to give the Lions a 27-26 edge.

After MHU added six unanswered points over the next 1:13 to quickly claim a 33-26 edge, AU closed the half with a flurry, as Fields drained a 3-pointer and Shaw fueled yet another 10-2 surge to push AU to a 36-35 halftime lead.

The Lions opened the second half with a 13-2 outburst to reclaim a 48-38 double-digit lead less than four minutes into the frame, while Shaw slowed the run with one-of-two from the line to get AU within nine at the 16:26 mark. But Mars Hill steadily built its largest lead of the contest, 55-41, with more than 13 minutes left.

AU cut the Lions' lead to five on two occasions inside the final five minutes, but Mars Hill was 10-of-12 from the free throw line in the closing moments to seal the win.

Anderson gets back in action by playing host to Newberry on Saturday, with tip-off versus the Wolves slated for 4 p.m. at the Abney Athletic Center.