WISE, Va. – Wrapping up their three-game road trip to start the 2024 calendar year, the Anderson University (7-7, 2-4 SAC) came up just short in a late comeback bid as they fell to UVA Wise (8-8, 4-4 SAC) by a score of 93-87 in the Prior Center on Saturday, January 13.

Sophomore Cole Middleton (Atlanta, Ga.) recorded his third straight double-double as he posted a team high 27 points in the contest while securing 15 rebounds to lead the team as well. Freshman Dallas Jones (Gainesville, Fla.) tallied 14 points in the game while sophomore Luke Denbow (Ashland, Ohio) chipped in 13. Freshman AJ Wright Jr. (Tampa, Fla.) led the squad with seven dimes.

The two teams were balanced in the opening minutes of the contest as both offenses were able to eclipse the double-digit mark before the first media timeout with Trojans holding a slight 12-10 advantage. Halfway through the first stanza, the two teams continued to stay at level peggings with the match even at 26 with 10:15 to play in the first.

UVA Wise was able to make a small run over the next two minutes of action as they outscored the Trojans by a 9-3 margin to take the lead at 35-29 with 7:59 to play. Anderson was able to cut that six point advantage down to just four with under four to play and then further closed that gap to just two at the end of the half with the score set at 50-48 in the Cavaliers favor.

The Trojans were able to quickly tie the contest up again in the opening minutes of the second half as by the 17:20 mark the score was back to 52-52 with a statement dunk by Middleton. However, the Cavaliers began to pull away slightly as an 11-2 run over the next two minutes gave UVA Wise a nine point advantage. The comeback started for the Trojans at that point as by the next media timeout they had brought the lead back down to five and a pair of free-throws right after brought the Cavaliers lead to just 3.

Another run by UVA Wise over the next stretch pushed the lead for the Cavaliers back up to eight and further extended it to 12 over the next minute. Not going away quietly, the Trojans began to slowly chip into that lead, cutting it in half with just over two minutes to play. High pressure defense from the Trojans in the closing minutes allowed them to pull back to within two, but a costly miss in the waning seconds put the contest out of reach as the Trojans dropped the 93-87 decision.

Anderson returns to action on Wednesday, January 17 as they welcome in Wingate to the Abney Center for a 7:30 p.m. first tip.