ANDERSON, S.C. – Catawba all-conference guard KJ Arrington's free throw with 3.4 seconds remaining lifted the Indians past Anderson, 72-71, in South Atlantic Conference men's basketball action, Saturday afternoon at the Abney Athletic Center.
Anderson (5-6, 3-2 SAC) opened a two-game homestand with its first setback in three games, while Catawba (9-3, 3-3 SAC), which was ranked sixth in the latest Southeast Region Media Poll, won its sixth decision in seven outings. The Indians also won at the Abney Center for the first time since the quarterfinals of the 2011 SAC Tournament.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
The game saw 10 overall ties and featured seven lead changes in just the second half alone. Catawba won the battle of the boards by five and outscored the Trojans by 12 in the paint, with the AU bench outscoring their counterparts by nine.
Anderson guard Shawn Benard led all scorers by equaling his career-high with 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field. The sophomore from Mobile, Ala., also swiped a pair of steals. Freshman center Carlos Dotson narrowly missed his his fifth double-double of the season with eight points and eight rebounds, with sophomore guard Randall Shaw adding seven points. Sophomore forward Jeremy Bouton also tossed in seven points and pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
With four different players scoring, AU jumped out to an 11-2 advantage inside the opening seven minutes and the stout Trojan defense held Catawba to just 1-of-11 shooting to start the contest and the Indians were unable to post their second field goal until the 12:21 mark of the opening half.
But with the Trojans holding an 11-4 lead, the Indians got hot from the field by connecting on six straight baskets and went 7-of-8 from the field and claimed their first lead, 20-19, at the 7:54 mark on Jordan Barber's lone 3-pointer of the contest.
The lead was brief, however as Benard and Shaw combined for five unanswered points before Catawba countered with back-to-back baskets of their own to knot the score at 24 apiece. The score was tied twice more before the Indians edged out to a 31-30 lead inside the final three minutes before the Trojans closed out the half with a 6-1 surge and took a 36-32 lead to the break.
Second Half
With the Trojans holding a 45-42 advantage, Catawba reeled off six unanswered points to turn the three-point deficit into their largest lead of the day, 48-45, with 13:01 left in the game.
The lead changed hands five times over the next 4:29, with Anderson's Benard and Boynton combining for three 3-pointers to offset a pair of Catawba layups to push AU's lead to 64-59 with less than five minutes on the clock. Freshman Christian Jeffords followed with a layup and after a free throw from the Indians' Jerrin Morrison, Benard dropped in a layup to boost the Trojan lead to eight with 3:54 remaining.
With the Trojans still holding an eight point edge a minute later, Catawba posted nine unanswered points and took a 71-70 lead on a short jumper by Jameel Taylor with 28 seconds on the clock. Shaw evened the score with one-of-two from the line at the 13.6 mark, setting up Arrington's heroics. The Trojans managed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer, but it was off the mark.
ANDERSON STAT OF THE DAY
The Trojan defense held Catawba to four 3-pointers on the afternoon – equaling the lowest total of an opponent this season.
NOTABLES
• The loss marked the second one-point decision of the season for the Trojans.
• Benard was the lone Trojan to reach double-figures, marking the first time this season AU has not had at least two players reach double-figures.
• The Trojans have sent out six different starting lineups in 11 games.
• The Trojans have made more free throws than their last four opponents and more than six of their last seven opponents.
• The Trojans have committed more turnovers than their last five opponents.
• This was the second straight game that a player came off the bench to lead the Trojans in scoring with 25 points – both times it has been Shawn Benard.
UP NEXT
The Trojans will play their second game in three days and close out the calendar year by playing host to Tusculum, Monday night. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m. at the Abney Center.
