ANDERSON, S.C. -- Powered by a strong surge to open the second half, the 25th-ranked Anderson men's basketball team ran past South Atlantic-foe Mars Hill, 109-86, Wednesday night at the Abney Athletic Center. Mars Hill gained an early eight-point, 21-13, advantage on the strength of torrid outside shooting to open the contest, as the Lions connected on eight of their first 12 shots, including 3-of-5 from three-point range. But the Trojans did not get rattled and scratched back to knot the score at 21 apiece with sophomore Taylor Shugart recording a traditional three-point play and sophomore guard Nick Trull draining a 3-pointer from the right side. Trey Britton capped the 8-0 run and evened the score with a basket for the third time on the night. The Lions responded by pushing out to another eight-point lead, but Trull nailed another trey from the top of the circle to ignite another AU run as the Trojans turned the deficit into a 42-35 cushion in a three-minute span. Leading 50-46 at the half, Anderson came out of the break on a 9-0 run and eventually outscored Mars Hill 17-2 over the opening three minutes of the second half to break open the contest. Juniors Kevis Cornwell and Britton triggered the outburst, combining for 14 points, and guards Tony Anderson and Brandon Young fueled the run as Anderson added a steal and a layup while Young dished out two assists and a free throw. Anderson shot an impressive 53.6 percent from the field and five Trojans hit double figures in the scoring column, led by sophomore guard Nick Trull's double-double. He scored 21 points off the bench and the 6-foot-2 guard also shared game-high rebounding honors with teammate Taylor Shugart as each garnered 10 boards on the night. Shugart narrowly missed a double-double, netting nine points. Junior guard Kevis Cornwell added 20 points, including hitting 8-of-9 from the charity stripe. Junior Trey Britton chipped in 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field and Oskars Ernsteins scored 14 points. Junior Brandon Young scored 11 points, while handing out a game-high seven assists. Mars Hill senior guard Stoney Polite scored a game-high 25 points on the strength of 6-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc, while teammate Dion Malachi added 17 points for the Lions. "We did a very good job on the boards," said Anderson head coach Jason Taylor, after the Trojans out-rebounded Mars Hill 47-31 on the night. "And I thought we played strong defense and got some defensive stops when we needed to." Anderson stayed perfect on the season, improving to 4-0, while Mars Hill dipped below .500 at 2-3. Anderson jumps back into Conference Carolinas action on Saturday when the Trojans play host to Queens in the second game of a women's/men's doubleheader. Tip-off for the women's contest is 2 p.m., with the men scheduled for 4 p.m. Game Stats