AIKEN, S.C. – Despite career nights from sophomores Andrew Boynton and Shawn Benard and freshman Carlos Dotson, Anderson fell, 73-68, to Peach Belt Conference-foe USC Aiken in men's basketball action, Wednesday night at the Pacer's Convocation Center.
Anderson slipped to 3-4 in its final nonconference contest of the season and saw its win streak halted at two, while USC Aiken improved to 4-1 on the year.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
The game featured seven ties, including three inside the final seven minutes, and eight lead changes.
Boynton came off the bench to pour in a career-high 21 points on the strength of 6-of-12 shooting from the field, including 5-of-10 from beyond the arc. The Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., native was also 4-of-5 from the free throw line. Dotson recorded a career-high 19 points and collected a game-high 14 rebounds, while blocking a pair of shots. Benard equaled his career high with 14 points off the bench, while sharing team-high honors with three assists. Freshman guard Chance Prandy chipped in eight points and five boards.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
USC Aiken scored the first four points of the contest and the Pacer's Mark Matthews and Henry Bolton III sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around a trey from Prandy to gain a 10-5 lead with less than four minutes gone in the opening stanza.
After trading layups and trailing, 12-7, Benard dropped in three of his eight first-half points to fuel a 6-2 spurt to get AU within one with 10:49 on the clock, but USC Aiken quickly posted four unanswered points to push its lead back to five, at 18-13.
Despite going just 7-for-21 from the field through the first 13 minutes, the Trojans trailed just 20-19 after Boynton connected on his first 3-pointer of the night with 6:41 left in the half and back-to-back traditional three-point plays, first from Benard and then from Boynton, gave the Trojans their first lead of the contest, 25-22, with more than five minutes on the clock.
Following a pair of layups that gave the Pacers a brief one-point edge, Boynton drained a 3-pointer from the right wing and Dotson added a layup to give the Trojans their largest lead of the contest, 30-26, with just more than three minutes left in the half. But USC Aiken responded by closing the half on a 6-2 surge and the teams went to the break deadlocked at 32 apiece.
Second Half
The Pacers opened the second half by posting a 12-2 run inside the first four minutes, as the Trojans opened the frame by misfiring on four of their first five shots and committing three turnovers.
With AU trailing by double digits, Boynton scored five of the Trojans' next seven points to pull AU within 44-41 by draining a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws, with Prandy capping a 9-2 surge to trim the deficit to 46-45 with 13:03 remaining. The Trojans stayed close and back-to-back treys from Boynton, followed by a Benard 3-pointer after a layup by the Pacers gave AU a 58-54 advantage at the 7:15 mark.
But USC Aiken answered with a 16-6 run over the next five minutes to claim a six-point lead with 2:22 left in the contest. The Trojans climbed within 71-68 with 1:01 on the clock but were unable to overtake the Pacers in the final seconds.
STAT OF THE NIGHT
• After not attempting a free throw in the opening half, USC Aiken connected on 11-of-16 in the final 20 minutes, while the Trojans were 10-of-16 on the night.
NOTABLES
• Led by Boynton's hot hand, the Trojans' bench outscored their counterparts from USC Aiken, 39-16, on the night.
• Jeremy Bouton is 9-of-10 from the free throw line in the last four games.
• AU was out-rebounded for the second consecutive game.
• The Trojans have drained at least five 3-pointers in every game this season, including a season-high 10 treys in the win over Southern Wesleyan.
UP NEXT
The Trojans return to South Atlantic Conference action by traveling to Queens University of Charlotte, Saturday afternoon. Tip-off versus the ninth-ranked Royals is set for 4 p.m.
