HARTSVILLE, S.C. – Guard Crosby James II scored a game-high, career-high 28 points, forward Josh Livingston netted five straight points late to give the Trojans the lead and guard Mason Carver netted 21 points, including a career-best 14 in the first half alone, to lift the Anderson men's basketball team to a come-from-behind, 77-70, win over Coker, in South Atlantic Conference action, Saturday afternoon at the DeLoach Center.
Anderson (10-11, 7-10 SAC) snapped a brief two-game skid with its seventh straight win over the Cobras, while Coker (4-15, 4-12 SAC) lost its third straight outing.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
James was 8-of-13 and scored 21 points in the second half, with Carver coming off the bench and going a perfect 6-for-6 from the field in 17 minutes of action in the opening frame. Livingston finished the afternoon with 15 points on 6-of-11 field goal accuracy and shared team-high rebounding honors with Carver, with each collecting five boards apiece.
Junior forward Williams Onyeodi led the Cobras with 18 points, while Zavier Measmer added 15 points and freshman guard Demar Anderson chipped in 13 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
Coker blistered the nets by going 8-of-10 from the field and bolted out to a double-digit, 16-6, lead inside the opening eight minutes of the game.
AU closed to within two possessions less than two minutes later on a 3-pointer from Rahim Jenkins, but the Cobras held the advantage and still led by double figures (32-22) with 3:11 on the clock.
But the Trojans closed the frame by scoring 10 unanswered points to knot the score for the first time of the afternoon. James sparked the rally with his first 3-pointer of the day and Livingston followed with a fast-break dunk off an assist from James, while Carver wrapped up the half by scoring five straight points. The Lexington native converted a traditional three-point play with 44 seconds on the clock, then on AU's next possession, he grabbed an offensive rebound and dropped in a buzzer-beating layup to end the half.
Second Half
The Cobras opened the second like they did the first – scoring seven straight points – but AU stayed within striking distance and forward Parker Dortch's layup at the 11:22 mark gave the Trojans their first lead since the opening basket of the game.
But the lead was short-lived, as Onyeodi countered for the Cobras and they pushed back out to another seven-point edge (59-52) with less than eight minutes remaining. With AU trailing, 63-60, two and a half minutes later, Livingston sandwiched a layup and a short jumper around a Demar Anderson free throw and added a 3-pointer to give the Trojans a 67-64 lead with 3:43 on the clock.
The Trojans were 4-of-6 from the free throw line in the final 46 seconds, while Coker connected on just one of its final five field goal attempts inside the final minute.
STAT OF THE DAY
Coker shot 59.1 percent (13-of-22) from the field in the first half, with the Trojans connecting on 16-of-26 (61.5%) in the second half. AU was 8-of-19 from long range on the day, with the Cobras going 9-of-21 from beyond the arc.
NOTABLES
• The Trojans improved to 4-7 on the road this season.
• The two teams have met 41 times, with Anderson holding a 25-16 advantage in the overall series
• AU improved to 3-4 vs. Coker at the DeLoach Center.
• The Trojans claimed their 16th win in the last 21 meetings with the Cobras.
• AU swept the regular-season series with Coker.
• The two teams combined to attempt just 24 free throws on the afternoon – the lowest of the season for the Trojans and an opponent. AU did not shoot a free throw until the 44-second mark of the first half, while the Cobras attempted just two free throws in the opening half.
• The Trojans won the rebounding battle, 27-24.
• AU converted 18 Coker turnovers into 23 points.
UP NEXT
The Trojans open the month of February by playing three of their next four games at the Abney Athletic Center, beginning with Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday. AU will be looking to avenge an earlier, 91-73, loss to the Railsplitters. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.
