WISE, Va. – Crosby James II shared game-high scoring honors with 24 points and guard Mason Carver posted a career-high scoring afternoon for the second time in three games, but the Anderson men's basketball team dropped its second straight decision, 78-75, to UVA Wise, in South Atlantic Conference action, Saturday afternoon at the David J. Prior Convocation Center.
Anderson slipped to 10-13 overall and 7-12 in league play, while UVA Wise (3-18, 2-15 SAC) won its second straight outing and claimed its first home win of the season.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
James scored 17 of his team-high 24 points in the second half, while pulling down five rebounds and handing out three assists. Carver added a career-best 22 points, equaled a career-high with four assists and shared team-high honors by grabbing a season-high six rebounds. Freshman guard Myles Jenkins posted 12 points and recorded six rebounds.
Freshman guard Bradley Dean led four Cavaliers in double figures with 24 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
The lead changed hands eight times over the first eight minutes of the opening half, with neither team able to gain more than an eight-point advantage.
The Cavaliers pushed out to their largest lead of the game (36-28) with 2:25 left in the first frame, but AU responded with an 8-1 run over the final 2:04 to close within 37-36 at the break.
Second Half
With forward Parker Dortch and James leading the way with four points apiece, the Trojans opened the second stanza on a 15-7 surge and grabbed a 51-44 lead with 15:24 on the clock, and still led by five (66-61) at the 4:36 mark, but UVA Wise scored eight unanswered points in less than two minutes to take a late lead and held on for the win by going 9-of-10 from the free throw line inside the final 2:23.
STAT OF THE DAY
The Trojans struggled at the free throw line – connecting on 13-of-29 (44.8%) from the charity stripe. The Cavaliers were 27-of-33 (81.8%) from the free throw line.
NOTABLES
• Junior guard Crosby James II became just the 16th men's basketball player in school history to reach the 1000-career point plateau – and just the fifth player to score 1,000 career points in three seasons or less at AU.
• AU leads the brief all-time series, 3-1.
• Mason Carver previously posted a career-high 21 points just eight days ago at Coker.
• The Cavaliers out-rebounded AU, 38-36, with the Trojans pulling down a season-high 13 offensive boards.
• AU outscored UVA Wise, 50-18, in the paint.
• The Trojans turned 17 UVA Wise turnovers into 21 points.
UP NEXT
The Trojans return to the Electric City for a two-game homestand, beginning with Newberry on Wednesday. AU will be looking to earn a split of the regular-season series with the Wolves after dropping an 82-71 decision in Newberry last November. Tip-off at the Abney Center is slated for 7:30 p.m.
