ANDERSON, S.C. – With all five starters reaching double figures, the Anderson men's basketball team claimed its second straight win with an 81-65 decision over Southern Wesleyan in non-conference action Monday night at the Abney Athletic Center.
With both teams coming off a five-day layoff, Anderson improved to 3-3 on the young season, while Southern Wesleyan fell to 1-5 with its fourth straight setback in the first meeting between the two teams since the 2010-11 campaign and just the second since the 1997-98 season.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
The Trojans outscored Southern Wesleyan by four in the paint and converted 17 Warrior turnovers into 16 points.
Guard Randall Shaw led all scorers with a season-high 27 points, including 18 in the decisive second half, on 8-of-12 shooting from the field. The Greenville, S.C., native also grabbed five rebounds. Junior guard Maurice Howard added a season-high 13 points and seven assists, while sophomore forward Jeremy Bouton equaled a season-high with 14 points and recorded a team-high seven rebounds. Freshman guard Chance Prandy also equaled his season-high with 11 points despite being hampered by foul trouble. Freshman center Carlos Dotson
added 11 points and four boards, while swiping a career-high four steals.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
The Trojans opened the game red-hot from the field, connecting on eight of their first 12 shots, while building their largest lead of the opening half, at 22-5, midway through the frame.
But after being held to just two baskets in the opening 10 minutes, the visitors warmed up quickly by connecting on three consecutive 3-pointers that sparked a 17-2 run, with SWU trimming the Anderson advantage to just 24-22 with less than five minutes left in the half. The two teams traded baskets down the stretch, with the Trojans holding a 34-32 halftime edge.
Second Half
Southern Wesleyan's Kevin Stamps dropped in the first basket of the second half to knot the score for the first and only time of the night, with Prandy draining a trey from deep in the left corner to give AU a lead it would not surrender. Dotson followed with a steal and a driving layup and Shaw answered a SWU free throw with three of his own, as the Black and Gold edged back out to a 42-35 lead at the 18:08 mark.
After SWU's Darius Sharpe connected on a 3-pointer, Dotson and Shaw combined to score the Trojans' next dozen points and a flurry of 3-pointers ignited a 22-6 scoring outburst that saw AU take an insurmountable 66-46 lead with 7:50 remaining.
ANDERSON STAT OF THE NIGHT
Led by Dotson's four thefts, the Trojans equaled a season-high with nine steals.
NOTABLES
• Shaw has averaged a team-high 24.0 points over the last three games on 55.3% shooting from the field (26-of-47) and 92.9% shooting from the line (13-of-14)
• Howard has averaged 11 points over the last three contests on 13-of-29 shooting from the field and has averaged 5.3 assists.
• Bouton is 9-of-10 from the free throw line in the last three games.
• Shaw has reached the 20+ point plateau the last five games.
• The Trojans shot more free throws than their opponent for the second straight game.
• The Trojans also made more free throws than their opponent for the second straight time.
• The Trojans have drained at least five 3-pointers in every game this season, including a season-high 10 against the Warriors.
UP NEXT
The Trojans open a two-game road swing by wrapping up their non-conference schedule at USC Aiken on Wednesday. Tip-off versus the Pacers is set for 7:30 p.m.
