JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Despite three players reaching double figures, the Anderson men's basketball team wrapped up its brief two-game road swing with a 76-68 setback to Carson-Newman in South Atlantic Conference action, Wednesday night at Holt Fieldhouse.

With the loss, Anderson fell to 5-18 overall and 3-14 in the league, while Carson-Newman improved to 14-9 overall and 10-7 in the conference with its third straight victory.

Carson-Newman edged the Trojans, 31-30, in the rebounding battle, with Anderson forcing the Eagles into 17 turnovers and converting the miscues into 27 points. Both teams were accurate from the field, as AU shot 45.3 percent on the night and C-N posted a 50 percent accuracy.

Anderson freshman guard Randall Shaw scored a game-high 27 points in his first action after missing three contests with an injury, while sophomore guard Maurice Howard tallied 13 points, five rebounds and seven assists. Sophomore guard Tre' Fields added 12 points and shared team-high rebounding honors with six.

After Fields trimmed a six-point deficit to 12-10 by sinking one of his two 3-pointers with 12:30 left in the opening half, the Eagles opened a double-digit, 21-11, advantage behind a 9-1 surge and steadily built a 12-point lead - their largest lead of the night, with 4:35 left in the half.

With the Eagles still leading by a dozen a minute later, Rakish Taylor sparked a 10-3 run by the Trojans by connecting on 1-of-2 from the line. Jeremy Bouton, Shaw and Howard each chipped in three points apiece during the rally that cut the Carson-Newman lead to just 34-29 at the half.

After the Eagles pushed back out to a 43-33 lead with 15:11 left in the contest, AU battled back within 50-49 midway through the second half, but was unable to overtake Carson-Newman, as the Eagles responded by going 5-for-5 from the field and regained a double-digit lead.

The Trojans will welcome Catawba to the Abney Athletic Center on Saturday, with tip-off for the SAC contest set for 4 p.m.