ANDERSON, S.C. – Freshman guard Crosby James II poured in a game-high 26 points to help lift the Trojans past UVa-Wise, 89-78, in South Atlantic Conference men's basketball action, Saturday afternoon at the Abney Athletic Center.
"Overall I was pleased with our effort tonight," said Anderson head coach Jeff Brookman. "We were very sluggish on the defensive end through the entire first half. Offensively, we were locked in for most of the game. Anytime you can get 20 assists you know you are sharing the ball and making shots. We still have a lot of room for improvement and some mistakes to clean up. We continue to focus on one game at a time."
Anderson (11-7, 6-6 SAC) earned a split of the regular-season series by avenging an earlier loss to the Cavaliers, while winning its fourth contest in five outings. UVa-Wise (5-13, 1-11 SAC) suffered its seventh straight loss.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
James notched his game-high effort on the strength of 9-of-11 field goal shooting, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. Guard Shawn Benard added 15 points, five rebounds and a game-high seven assists. The senior from Mobile, Ala., also swiped three steals. Junior guard Quin Nottingham netted 12 points, pulled down five rebounds, handed out a season-high six assists and recorded a pair of steals.
Sophomore center Jason Edwards tallied 10 points and equaled a career-high with seven boards. Junior guard Alex Keel scored nine points and dished out a season-high four assists, with sophomore forward Satchel Hester chipping in eight points and hauling in five rebounds.
UVa-Wise sophomore guard Cameron Whiteside led the Cavaliers with 18 points and nine boards, while fellow sophomore Briggs Parris scored 14 points. Senior guard Chance Sheffey notched 11 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
The back-and-forth up-tempo contest featured 16 ties and 18 lead changes, with neither team able to build more than a five point lead until the Trojans pulled away inside the final six minutes.
Hester scored the first five points of the game inside the first 1:11, while UVa-Wise countered by scoring eight unanswered points as part of a 10-2 run in less than two minutes to claim a 10-7 edge with 16:24 on the clock. With both teams sprinting up and down the court and battling on every possession, neither squad was able to post a dominant run over the other. Midway through the half, the Trojans were 8-of-10 from field, while UVa-Wise was 8-of-11 (72.7 percent) and had knocked down four of its three-point shots – and the score was deadlocked at 22 apiece.
Both teams continued the frantic pace through the remainder of the half and also maintained their torrid shooting, with the Cavaliers shooting 56 percent from the field and the Trojans posting their highest scoring first half of the season by dropping in 48 points – and leading by four at halftime.
Second Half
The Trojans, who finished the first half on an 8-4 run, edged out to a 50-44 lead with more than 19 minutes left in the game. But UVa-Wise refused to go away and bounced right back with six consecutive points to knot the score for the ninth time, at 50 apiece, less than two minutes later.
After Benard's traditional three-point play gave AU a 57-54 advantage with 14:29 remaining, the Cav's responded by putting together a 10-5 surge that gave the visitors their final lead of the afternoon, at 64-62. Benard answered by draining a pair of free throws and Nottingham's layup at the 10:36 mark returned the lead to AU – and the Trojans would not trail again.
The game was tied three more times before Nottingham nailed a 3-pointer from deep in the left corner and the AU defense ignited a stretch of seven unanswered points by the Trojans. Following Nottingham's trey, Benard swiped the ball and raced down court for the layup and Nottingham then stole the ball and fed a streaking James for another layup.
After a pair of misses on the other end, Benard drained a 3-pointer from the left side that gave AU a double-digit 82-72 lead with less than five minutes to play. Sheffey knocked down a pair of free throws a minutes later, but James then scored the Trojans' next seven points, with the freshman guard burying a long 3-pointer from the left side with a Cavalier defender in his face that brought the Make-a-Wish crowd in Abney to its feet and boosted the lead to 87-74.
The two teams then traded points over the last minute to set the final score.
ANDERSON STAT OF THE DAY
For the second straight game, the Trojans posted a season-high shooting percentage. AU connected on 31-of-51 field goal attempts (60.8%) just three days after scorching the nets for a then season-high 57.1 field-goal shooting percentage (32-of-56) in the win over Catawba - that's the highest shooting percentage since going 31-for-47 (66.0%) in an 88-78 win at Lenoir-Rhyne on Feb. 18, 2017.
NOTABLES
• The 18 lead changes were just one shy of the season-high (19) in the early-season win over Flagler.
• Led by Shawn Benard's game-high seven assists, the Trojans dished out a season-high 20 assists on the day.
• AU out-rebounded the Cavaliers, 31-26.
• The Trojans have pulled down at least seven offensive rebounds in five straight games.
• Shawn Benard has handed out at least four assists in five straight games.
• Crosby James posted career-high scoring efforts in two straight games (LMU and Catawba) and was just one basket shy of setting a new career-best for the third consecutive game.
• The Trojans have swiped at least five steals in five consecutive games.
• The Trojans improved to 6-2 at home this season.
• The Cavaliers are searching for their first road victory of the season.
• AU has won seven of its last 10 games.
• The contest marked just the second-ever meeting between the two programs, with the all-time series deadlocked at 1-1.
• Today's game featured two of the top three scorers in the league, with AU's Quin Nottingham (1st) and UVa-Wise's Cameron Whiteside (3rd).
UP NEXT
Anderson will wrap up its two-game homestand by welcoming No. 16/24 Queens to the Electric City on Wednesday night. The Trojans will be looking to avenge an earlier 78-74 loss to the Royals in Charlotte. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
