MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. – A late scoring drought by the Trojans and late long-range accuracy by the Bobcats proved costly, as the Anderson men's basketball team suffered its first loss in nearly four weeks, with 25th-ranked Georgia College holding on for an 83-81 nonconference victory, Friday afternoon at the Centennial Center.
Anderson (7-6) wrapped up its calendar year-ending three-game road swing with its first setback in five outings and nearly handed the nationally-ranked Bobcats their first home loss of the season. Georgia College improved to 10-1 on the season with its eighth straight win and moved to 4-0 at the Centennial Center this season.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Guard Quin Nottingham led all scorers by matching his season-high with 30 points on the afternoon. The Champaign, Ill., native was 10-for-18 from the field and sank a season-high six 3-pointers, while going 4-for-4 from the free throw line. He also handed out a team-high five assists. Forward Parker Dortch netted 21 points and was 9-of-10 from the charity stripe, including a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line inside the final four minutes.
Forward Josh Livingston posted his second double-double of the season with 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Junior guard Crosby James II added eight points and seven rebounds, with Mack Burgett pulling down five rebounds.
Redshirt senior Jordan Thomas led the Bobcats with 23 points, while redshirt juniors Wesley Simpson and Chris Parks added 13 and 12, respectively.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
Neither team showed much rust from their respective layoffs of nearly two weeks, with three of AU's first four baskets coming from beyond the arc and the two squads combining to connect on five treys in their first eight scores and the Trojans finishing with their second-highest 3-point tally of the season, with 11 treys.
The lead changed hands eight times inside the opening eight minutes, with the Bobcats using a 14-4 run late in the first half to open their largest lead of the contest, at 33-25, with 5:29 on the clock.
Livingston then caught fire offensively for the Black and Gold, with the Myrtle Beach native scoring eight straight points in less than two minutes to knot the score at 33 apiece at the 3:30 mark. But the Trojans managed just a pair of free throws over the final 3 ½ minutes, while Georgia College netted eight points to take a 41-35 lead into intermission.
Second Half
The Bobcats still led by eight (53-45) with less than 15 minutes left, before AU reeled off a 14-2 scoring outburst to claim its largest lead of the afternoon, at 59-55. Dortch sparked the rally with a layup, while Nottingham nailed a pair of treys and freshman Myles Jenkins capped the surge with a layup with just more than 11 minutes left.
The score was knotted two more times over the next five minutes, with the Bobcats snapping the eighth tie of the day (67-67) with seven consecutive points as AU went scoreless for nearly four minutes. With GC holding a 74-67 edge, Dortch dropped in four straight free throws and James converted an old-fashioned three-point play to even the score with just 1:54 on the clock.
After misfiring on three straight field goal attempts the Bobcats bounced back by sandwiching a pair of 3-pointers around a layup by Jenkins to stake an 80-76 lead with exactly a minute remaining. James again answered on the other end with a long trey from the wing with 45.7 on the clock to pull the Trojans within just one, while Thomas countered with a layup on the other end to give the Bobcats an 82-79 lead.
James was unable to connect on a game-tying 3-pointer, but grabbed his own miss and dropped it in with just 1.1 seconds left. Thomas then connected on one of two free throws for the Bobcats to set the final score.
ANDERSON STAT OF THE DAY
The Trojans connected on a season-high 87.5% (14-of-16) from the free throw line.
NOTABLES
• AU's win/loss margin in six of its last seven games has been an average of 2.5 points
• The Trojans were facing their fourth nationally-ranked team of the season.
• The matchup marked just the eighth overall meeting between the Trojans and Bobcats and the first meeting since the 2015-16 campaign.
• The Trojans hold a 5-4 edge in the overall series with Georgia College.
• Josh Livingston's double-double was his second of the season and AU's sixth of the season.
• Georgia College out-rebounded the Trojans, 42-36.
• The lead changed hands 14 times and the largest lead by either team was eight points.
UP NEXT
Following a five-day break, the Trojans open the New Year by playing five games in a 15-day span, with four of the games slated for the friendly confines of the Abney Athletic Center. AU is slated to play host to Catawba on Wednesday, with tip-off on Annie Tribble Court set for 7:30 p.m.
