ANDERSON, S.C. – With four players reaching double figures in the scoring column, the Anderson men's basketball team opened the second half of its double round-robin South Atlantic Conference schedule with a 75-65 win over Lenoir-Rhyne, Saturday afternoon at the Abney Athletic Center.
With its fourth home win of the season, Anderson improved to 7-12 overall and 5-6 in the conference, while earning a split of the season series and claimed its second win in three meetings with the Bears.
Lenoir-Rhyne slipped to 7-10 overall and 5-6 in the league with its second straight setback.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Junior forward Jeremy Bouton led the Trojans with 15 points, including 13 in the second half, and recorded a team-high six rebounds. Junior guard Andrew Boynton came off the bench to score 13 points, while freshman Josh Livingston netted a dozen points. Senior guard Maurice Howard tallied 12 points, four rebounds and a game-high seven assists. Junior Randall Shaw handed out a career-high five assists and equaled a career high with three steals.
FIRST HALF
Lenoir-Rhyne scored the opening basket of the game and the two teams traded buckets through the opening 10:19 of the contest, as each time the Trojans answered with a score, Lenoir-Rhyne would counter with another basket on its end of the court.
The Bears snapped the seventh deadlock of the first half by jumping out to their largest lead of the game, 17-14, on a 3-pointer from the left corner by senior guard Billy Bales at the 9:41 mark and held the advantage until the Trojans scored 10 unanswered points to turn a 21-18 deficit into a 28-21 lead. Freshman guard Myliek Durham canned his lone 3-pointer of the afternoon from the right wing to give the Trojans their first lead of the contest after Boynton's jumper had ignited the rally.
Lenoir-Rhyne responded with four quick points, but Livingston connected on his only trey of the game with less than a minute left in the half and AU went to intermission holding a 31-25 lead.
SECOND HALF
AU stretched its lead to double digits (40-29) on a traditional three-point play by senior Rakish Taylor less than three minutes into the second half.
Later leading, 42-35, the Trojans capitalized on a flurry of 3-pointers to build their largest advantage of the contest, at 50-35, with 11:08 remaining in the game. AU maintained the double-digit cushion until the Bears pulled within seven on two occasions inside the final four minutes, but the Trojans withstood each challenge and connected on 4-of-6 free throws inside the final 71 seconds to seal the victory.
ANDERSON STAT OF THE DAY
The Trojans equaled a season-low with just six turnovers on the afternoon, which resulted in just two L-R points.
NOTES
• The Trojans outrebounded Lenoir-Rhyne, 33-31.
• AU converted nine Lenoir-Rhyne turnovers into 11 points.
• The score was tied seven times – all in the opening half.
• The contest featured just one lead change.
• After being outrebounded in eight consecutive games, the Trojans outrebounded Mars Hill, Coker and now Lenoir-Rhyne.
• After holding Tusculum to a season-low 23 first-half points, the Trojan defense limited Lenoir-Rhyne to 25 points in the first half.
UP NEXT
The Trojans have a six-day layoff before traveling to fourth-ranked Queens to open a two-game South Atlantic Conference road swing. AU will be looking to avenge a 90-79 loss to the Royals earlier in the season. Tip-off versus the Royals is set for 4 p.m. in Charlotte, N.C.