ANDERSON, S.C. – Sophomore Myles Jenkins and senior Mason Carver each matched their season highs, while combining for 43 points, but nationally fifth-ranked and preseason league favorite Lincoln Memorial shot 58.3 percent from the field en route to a 108-63 win over the Trojans in South Atlantic Conference men's basketball action, Saturday afternoon at the Abney Athletic Center.
"Tough one tonight at home," said Anderson head coach Jimmie Williams. "What a great college basketball atmosphere. I'll put our home court advantage up there with any place. Our performance tonight is not the standard for what we're building toward. We have had a number of injuries but we have to build a next man up when someone goes down. Not having Luke hurt tonight, but we have to be better when someone goes down. Tonight was a setback. Lincoln Memorial is a really good team and they shot the cover off it tonight. Our guys are battling through a lot right now, and I have no doubt we will respond from this."
Anderson (4-12, 1-5 SAC) suffered its third straight setback, while Lincoln Memorial (17-1, 7-0 SAC), which is atop the league's Mountain Division, improved to 7-1 away from home.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Jenkins, a 6-foot-4 guard, matched his career-best by pouring in a game-high 27 points on the strength of 5-of-11 accuracy from long range. He also pulled down eight rebounds and dished out a pair of assists. Carver netted 16 points by going 6-of-10 from the field, while matching his career-best with four 3-pointers.
Junior forward Mack Burgett added nine points, five boards and a pair of assists, with sophomore guard Jacksen Greco tallying seven points.
Grad student Chase Rankin paced the Railsplitters with 19 points and dished out 13 assists, while senior Jordan Guest added 18 points. Matthew Sells and Me'Kell Burries each netted 15 points apiece, while junior forward Martez Brown scored 10 points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
AU scored the first basket of the contest on a lay-in by Burgett less than a minute into the game, but then misfired on its next eight field goal attempts, which enabled the Railsplitters to push out to a double-digit, 12-2, advantage heading into the first media timeout.
LMU steadily built its lead to as much as 32 points late in the opening half, before taking a 61-32 cushion into halftime.
The Trojans again scored the opening basket of the second stanza, but were unable to close the gap over the final 19 minutes.
ANDERSON STAT OF THE DAY
The Trojans were 9-of-10 free throw line – marking a season-high accuracy from the charity stripe and are 36-of-42 (85.7%) from the line over the past two games.
NOTABLES
• The contest marked the Trojans' first meeting this season against a team from the South Atlantic Conference's Mountain Division.
• Other than Queens during the 2018-19 season, the Trojans have been the only other team other than LMU to claim outright sole possession of the league's championship – in 2012.
• The Trojans were bidding for their first win this season over a nationally-ranked team and their 10th home win over a nationally-ranked team since the 2008-09 season.
• Myles Jenkins narrowly missed his sixth double-double of the season.
• Mack Burgett has connected on nine consecutive free throws over the past two games.
• LMU won the battle of the boards, 43-30.
• The Railsplitters turned 15 Trojan turnovers into 26 points.
• Lincoln Memorial holds a 21-7 advantage in the overall series on the strength of a 19-game win streak against the Trojans.
• LMU is now 64-6 in regular season matchups against conference opponents over the last four seasons.
• Lincoln Memorial is the only team in the league with an unblemished conference record.
• With the league's divisional alignment, today's game marked the only regular-season matchup with Lincoln Memorial this season.
• Lincoln Memorial's 108 points marked the most points scored by an opponent at the Abney Center since AU joined the SAC in 2011 - eclipsing Newberry's 105 points scored on Jan. 9, 2013.
• The Trojans hold the record for overall points scored, which came in a 110-47 win over Johnson and Wales during the 2011-12 campaign.
UP NEXT
The Trojans will wrap up their two-game South Atlantic Conference homestand by playing host to Coker in the second meeting against the Cobras in less than two weeks, Wednesday night. Tip-off against the Cobras is scheduled for
7:30 p.m.
