ANDERSON, S.C. – Using a balanced offensive attack, the Anderson University men's basketball team snapped a five-game skid by hanging on for an 82-77 win over South Atlantic Conference-foe Mars Hill, Wednesday night at the Abney Athletic Center.
Anderson improved to 8-11 overall and 6-7 in conference action, while posting its 12th win over the Lions in 13 decisions. Mars Hill fell to 4-15 overall and 2-11 in the league with its 11th loss in the last 12 contests.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
After trailing in the rebounding battle for the first 36 minutes of the game, Mars Hill finished the contest with three more boards than the Trojans, while AU out-shot the Lions, 50.9 percent to 44.4 percent, from the field and converted 14 turnovers into 21 points.
Sophomore guard Andrew Boynton led four Trojans in double figures with 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field, including 4-of-7 from long range. Freshman guard Christian Jeffords came off the bench to add 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field, with sophomore guard Shawn Benard making the most of his second start of the season by scoring 13 points and dishing out a career-high eight assists. Sophomore forward Jeremy Bouton chipped in 13 points, including 10 in the first half.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
Bouton connected on his first three shot attempts, including a 3-pointer, to propel the Trojans to a quick 7-3 lead less than three minutes into the contest. But the Lions countered with seven unanswered points over the next two minutes as part of a larger 13-3 run that gave the visitors their largest lead of the contest (18-13) at the 11:06 mark of the opening frame.
Bouton halted the Lions' outburst with a traditional three-point play and junior forward Luke Musselwhite followed by draining his third 3-pointer of the season from the top of the circle to give the Trojans their first lead since the 16:29 mark. Bouton's basket and free throw sparked a 14-0 run by the Trojans, who closed the remaining 10:42 of the half with a 30-13 outburst.
Jeffords fueled the decisive run with eight points, while Boynton scored AU's final seven points of the half, with the Black and Gold holding a 43-31 lead at the break.
Second Half
AU edged out to a 50-36 advantage on back-to-back layups by junior Maurice Howard, but the Lions responded by scoring eight unanswered points to trim the Trojan lead to just six with more than 17 minutes remaining on the clock. But Benard and Boynton halted the Lions' comeback attempt with back-to-back 3-pointers from deep on the left side and following a pair of free throws on the other end, Boynton drained AU's third trey in a 36-second span to boost the Trojans' lead to 59-46 at the 15:03 mark.
The Trojans claimed a 19-point advantage – their largest of the contest – on Jeffords' second 3-pointer of the night with 8:22 remaining in the contest, then scored just one more field goal and made just enough free throws (6-of-11) in the final 5:23 to hold off the Lions.
After Jeffords dropped in the trey from the left side, the Lions crept back into the game by chipping away at AU's lead. Guard Lex Davis interrupted a 6-0 run by Mars Hill with a driving layup at the 5:23 mark, but the Lions posted a 16-3 surge as the Trojans went cold to climb within just 79-77 on a free throw from junior forward Dotson Griffin with 57.4 seconds left.
Following a pair of missed free throws by the Trojans and a turnover by Mars Hill, Benard connected on 1-of-2 from the line to give AU an 80-77 advantage with 33 seconds on the clock. Freshman center Carlos Dotson drew a charge on the other end of the court and Bouton sealed the win with a pair of free throws with 5.4 seconds remaining.
ANDERSON STAT OF THE NIGHT
The Trojans' 16 assists equaled their third-highest total of the season.
NOTABLES
• The Trojans have drained at least 10 treys in two of their last four games and seven of their last 11 games, including a season-high 14 treys in the win over Newberry.
• The Trojans have dished out double-figure assists in four straight games and seven of their last eight games.
• The Trojans connected on 9-of-18 from beyond the arc, marking their fourth-best percentage of the season.
UP NEXT
The Trojans close out the month of January by traveling to Newberry on Saturday for the second meeting of the season with the Wolves. The Trojans will be looking for a sweep of the season series when the two teams tip-off at 8 p.m. at Eleazer Arena.
