ANDERSON, S.C. – The Anderson men's basketball team committed a season-high 23 turnovers, as the Trojans dropped a 77-65 South Atlantic Conference decision to Catawba, Saturday afternoon at the Abney Athletic Center.
Anderson slipped to 7-15 overall and 5-9 in the conference with its third consecutive loss, while Catawba improved to 7-13 overall and 4-11 in the league with its second win in three outings.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Junior guard Gage Ellis shared game-high scoring honors with 23 points, while junior forward Jeremy Bouton netted 15 points and pulled down five rebounds. Senior center Rakish Taylor added 11 points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
The Trojans snapped an early 4-4 tie on a free throw by Maurice Howard and a layup from Ellis, but Catawba's Jordan Barber answered on the other end with a 3-pointer to knot the score for the third time in the opening five minutes.
AU countered with six unanswered points and led, 13-7, on a layup by Taylor with less than fourteen minutes left in the first half. The Indians responded with a 9-1 surge over the next three minutes to claim a brief 16-14 advantage, before Ellis scored seven straight points to regain a 21-16 lead for the Black and Gold at the 9:50 mark. The lead changed hands four times before another layup from Taylor gave the Trojans a 32-31 edge with 4:24 on the clock and AU surged ahead 38-31 before settling for a 38-37 lead at halftime.
Second Half
AU held the advantage and built their largest lead of the contest, 54-44, midway through the second half. But the Indians chipped away and eventually took their first lead since the 5:04 mark of the first half, at 65-64, with 4:39 remaining and steadily pulled away in the final minutes for the double-digit win.
NOTABLES
• The score was tied six times, including five times in the first half.
• There were eight lead changes, with five in the first half.
• Each team handed out five assists.
• Catawba converted the 23 Trojan turnovers into 28 points.
• The Indians edged AU, 32-31, in the rebounding battle.
UP NEXT
The Trojans wrap up their two-game homestand by playing host to nationally top-ranked Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday. AU will be looking to earn a split of the regular-season series after falling, 87-54, to the Railsplitters in early January. Tip-off versus LMU is set for 8 p.m.
