GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – The Anderson men's basketball team opened a two-game South Atlantic Conference road swing with an 88-60 setback to Tusculum in South Atlantic Conference play, Wednesday night at Pioneer Arena.
Anderson slipped to 9-11 overall and 6-10 in league play (9-10, 6-9 SAC) with its second straight loss, while Tusculum (12-5, 12-3 SAC) improved to 6-2 at home this season with its seventh win in eight decisions.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Despite foul trouble, forward Parker Dortch led the Trojans with 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field and recorded four rebounds, with guard Rahim Jenkins adding a career-high 13 points. The Richmond, Va., native also pulled down a career-high four rebounds. Also saddled with early foul trouble, junior guard Crosby James II scored 12 points and corralled five rebounds. Forward Josh Livingston came off the bench to score five points and record a team-high seven rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The score was deadlocked four times inside the opening four minutes, with Dortch giving the Trojans their lone lead of the night, at 10-8, with a twisting, turning jumper in the paint at the 15:32 mark. But Tusculum countered with 10 consecutive points to claim a lead it wouldn't relinquish.
Livingston then scored five straight for the Black and Gold, first on a deep 3-pointer from the left wing, then stuck back a miss by Rahim Jenkins to get AU within 18-15 midway through the half.
The Pioneers eased out to a double-digit, 26-16, advantage three minutes later, but just as quickly, Rahim Jenkins dropped in a trey from the right side and then went coast-to-coast after grabbing a defensive rebound to cut the deficit to five (26-21) with 6:17 left before halftime.
Following a jumper by Tusculum junior Jacob Hobbs, Burgett dropped in a layup and Dortch connected on 1-of-2 from the line to get AU within just 28-24, but the Pioneers closed the half on a 20-5 run, as the Trojans connected on just one of their final seven field goal attempts of the frame and AU was unable to get any closer than 17 early in the second stanza.
ANDERSON STAT OF THE NIGHT
AU shot a season-low 15.0% (3-of-20) from long range.
NOTABLES
• Tonight's game was Anderson's seventh contest in 17 days and fourth game in eight days, while Tusculum was coming off a six-day layoff after dropping an 88-85 decision to then 16th-ranked Queens last Wednesday.
• Both teams struggled from the charity stripe in the first half, combining to go 8-for-14 (57.1%) in the opening 20 minutes.
• The Trojans and Pioneers have met just 25 times, with the Trojans holding a 16-9 advantage in the overall series.
• The Trojans have won 16 of the last 24 decisions past Tusculum.
• The Pioneers previous largest margin of victory at Pioneer Arena was 27 points (2015-16).
UP NEXT
The Trojans close out the month of January on the road at Coker, Saturday afternoon. AU will be looking to sweep the regular season series after edging the Cobras, 67-66, in early December at the Abney Center. Tip-off in Hartsville is scheduled for 4 p.m.
