HICKORY, N.C. – The Anderson men's basketball team erased nearly all of a 13-point second-half deficit, but late free throw accuracy enabled Lenoir-Rhyne to hold off the Trojans, 69-60, in South Atlantic Conference action, Wednesday night at Shuford Memorial Gym.
Anderson (8-17, 5-10 SAC) dropped its fourth decision in five outings, while Lenoir-Rhyne (10-14, 5-11 SAC) earned a split of the regular-season series with the Trojans with its second win in three outings.
"Tough one on the road tonight," said Anderson head coach Jimmie Williams. "We got off to a slow start and we let it impact our energy. We can't be a team that only gets ignited when our offense is clicking. Credit to Lenoir-Rhyne. They played incredibly hard. Like us they've had some injuries and have needed guys to step up, and they certainly had that tonight. Coach Sullivan did a heck of a job getting his team ready for tonight. As good as we were Saturday, it's disappointing to not reach the standard necessary to win tonight. And that starts with me. Thankfully we have back-to-back home games coming up Saturday and Wednesday. Excited to see everyone at Abney Saturday for senior night! I love this team!"
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Junior guard Garrett Denbow led the Trojans in scoring with 14 second-half points. At one point during the second half, the Ashland, Ohio, native connected on four straight 3-pointers. He also pulled down five rebounds and dished out two assists. Sophomore guard Jacksen Greco came off the bench to score 12 points, including nine in the second stanza, while sophomore guard Jackson Gammons netted 10 points.
Junior forward Mack Burgett added nine points, three assists and four steals, with sophomore guard Myles Jenkins chipping in none points and grabbing seven rebounds. Senior guard Mason Carver tallied four points, seven rebounds and handed out a game-high five assists.
Jalen Johnson led Lenoir-Rhyne with 20 points and eight rebounds, with teammate Tim Steele adding 13 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
The score was tied three times and the lead changed hands twice – all in the opening 10 minutes of the game.
With the Trojans trailing,10-8, inside the 14-minute mark, Jenkins' first 3-pointer of the night gave AU its first lead of the contest, at 11-10, and a jumper from Greco gave the Trojans their largest lead of the game (13-10) less than 40 seconds later.
But the lead was short-lived, as the Bears snapped a 15-15 deadlock moments later with a 14-4 run and claim a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the night.
The Trojans trimmed the double-digit deficit to just 31-27 on a steal by Gammons and a lay-in by Burgett at the 2:49 mark, but the Bears took a 35-27 lead into halftime.
Second Half
LR built an 11-point advantage twice inside the first nine minutes of the second half and still led, 44-35, when Denbow began his 3-point barrage from all over the Trojans' end of the court.
His fourth straight 3-pointer in a span of less than six minutes pulled the Trojans within one possession (52-49) with just a little more than five minutes left in the game, but the Bears responded with an 8-2 spurt to rebuild a nine-point lead and were 9-of-10 from the charity stripe inside the final 74 seconds to seal the victory.
STAT OF THE NIGHT
After not attempting a free thrown in the first half, Lenoir-Rhyne was 9-of-11 from the stripe in the second half.
NOTABLES
• With three games remaining in the regular season, the Trojans are tied for fourth place, alongside Coker in the battle for one of the four Piedmont Division berths in next month's SAC Tournament.
• The Trojans and Cobras trail third-place Newberry and Wingate, who are deadlocked in second place, by five games.
• Two of the Trojans' final three regular-season games will be at the Abney Athletic Center.
• The Trojans' final three regular-season games will be against Mountain Division rivals.
• The Trojans defeated LR, 77-68, in mid-December at the Abney Center.
• LR won the battle of the boards, 41-32.
• AU has won four of the last five meetings with LR.
• Anderson holds a 16-10 edge in the overall series with Lenoir-Rhyne.
UP NEXT
AU is slated to open its final two-game South Atlantic Conference homestand of the season when Limestone invades the Electric City, Saturday afternoon. The Trojans will recognize their departing seniors prior to tip-off, which is scheduled for 4 p.m.
