Harrogate, Tenn. – Facing its second nationally-ranked opponent in a six-day span, the Anderson men's basketball team opened its South Atlantic Conference slate with a 91-73 loss to 13th-ranked Lincoln Memorial, Wednesday night at Tex Turner Arena.
Anderson slipped to 2-1 overall and 0-1 in league play, while Lincoln Memorial improved to 3-0 and 1-0.
"It was a disappointing final 20 minutes of play," said Anderson head coach Jeff Brookman. "I did a very poor job of getting our guys to play together on both sides of the ball. Our spacing was bad all night long and we did not get enough paint touches on offense. We have two days to regroup and get ready for Saturday.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Junior guard Crosby James came off the bench to lead the Trojans in scoring with 17 points, while forward Parker Dortch added 16 points, including 11 in the first half. The Columbus, N.J., native narrowly missed his second straight double-double after pulling down a team-high nine rebounds. Guard Quin Nottingham recorded 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while handing out four assists. Despite foul trouble, forwards Jalen Hillery and Josh Livingston each netted nine points apiece.
LMU guard Alex Dahling led all scorers with 25 points, including 20 in the opening half, on 8-of-13 shooting from the field, with freshman Matthew Sells adding 19 points for the Railsplitters. Jordan Guest and Chase Rankin finished with 18 points and 16 points, respectively.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
Seven of the game's nine lead changes occurred inside the opening four minutes, with Dortch and Livingston each scoring five points apiece to fuel the Trojans' early offense and dueling Guest and Dahling on the other end, who scored six and five points, respectively to give Lincoln Memorial an 11-10 edge at the first media timeout.
The Railsplitters pushed out to a six-point advantage three times before garnering their largest lead of the opening half, at 32-25, on a pair of free throws by Dahling at the 6:25 mark. But the Trojans countered with a 9-2 run to knot the score, at 34-34, for the first of three times inside the final five minutes of the half. James triggered the surge with a 3-pointer and Myles Jenkins capped the run with an old-fashioned three-point play at the 4:18 mark.
With the score still deadlocked (38-38) less than two minutes later, James scored five straight points and Mason Carver nailed 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to give the Trojans a 44-38 lead with 43 seconds left in the half. Jenkins offset a pair of Dahling free throws with two of his own and AU carried a 46-40 advantage into halftime.
Second Half
Coming out of the break, AU gained its largest lead of the half, at 51-43, on a long 3-pointer from the right side by Dortch, but the lead evaporated in less than two minutes, as LMU used a 10-2 spurt as part of a 26-4 scoring outburst over the next eight minutes to build a 69-55 cushion midway through the half.
With the Trojans unable to muster a field goal for nearly nine minutes, LMU claimed a 79-62 advantage at the 6:49 mark and AU was unable to get closer than 14 in the final minutes.
ANDERSON STAT OF THE NIGHT
After going 16-of-32 from the field, including 6-of-11 from long range in the first half, the Trojans were 7-for-27 (25.9%) and 2-for-7 in the second frame.
NOTABLES
• The game featured seven ties and nine lead changes.
• AU was searching for its first win at Tex Turner Arena since the 2013-14 season's first matchup in Harrogate.
• The Trojans slipped to 4-10 versus the Railsplitters at Tex Turner Arena.
• The Trojans and Railsplitters have met 26 times, with Lincoln Memorial holding a 19-7 advantage in the overall series.
• The Trojans pulled down a season-high 11 offensive rebounds and have recorded at least nine offensive boards in each game.
• Quin Nottingham has dished out at least four assists in each game.
• The Trojans' normally reliable free throw shooting left them at Tex Turner Arena, as AU connected on just 19-of-30 (63.3%) from the free throw line. LMU was 23-of-25 (92.0%) from the charity stripe.
UP NEXT
AU returns home for a two-game South Atlantic Conference homestand, with the Trojans welcoming UVA Wise to the Electric City, Saturday afternoon. Tip-off at the Abney Athletic Center is scheduled for 4 p.m.
