Hartsville, S.C. – Junior guard Quin Nottingham poured in a career-high 38 points and the Trojans were a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line inside the final minute, as the Anderson men's basketball team clinched its fourth consecutive appearance in the South Atlantic Conference Tournament by holding off a stubborn Coker squad, 82-74, Wednesday night at the DeLoach Center.
"It was not our best performance on either side of the ball tonight, but we found a way to gut out the road win," said Anderson head coach Jeff Brookman. "We have to be better on the defensive side of the ball. We were not sharp and made way too many mistakes on defense. I need to make sure that our guys are mentally focused and prepared during the next two days of practice."
Anderson (16-9, 11-8 SAC) has won two of its last three decisions and has secured its second straight winning season, while Coker slipped to 6-17 overall and 5-14 in the league.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Nottingham's career night came on the strength of 10-of-18 shooting from the field, including 4-of-9 from beyond the arc. The Champaign, Ill., native was also a perfect 14-of-14 from the charity stripe, with 10 of the free throws coming inside the final nine minutes of the contest. He also dished out a career-high seven assists. Junior forward Josh Livingston added 13 points, with Crosby James II narrowly missing his first career double-double with nine points and eight rebounds. Senior Shawn Benard added eight rebounds and four assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
Anderson jumped out to a 7-2 lead inside the first three minutes, but the Cobras responded with a 15-3 outburst to claim their largest lead of the night, at 17-10, with just less than 13 minutes left in the half.
Coker was unable to build on its lead, but maintained the advantage and carried a 35-34 lead into halftime.
Second Half
Coker was hot in the second stanza – shooting nearly 54 percent on their home hardwood – but despite the red-hot shooting, the Trojans grabbed a 42-35 lead early in the half on a jumper by Nottingham and back-to-back 3s, first by Benard, then from Nottingham.
The Cobras battled back to take a 48-47 edge and neither team was able to stake more than a three-point lead over the next eight minutes until AU rattled off 10 unanswered points to claim a 66-57 lead with 4:35 remaining.
With Coker choosing to send the Trojans to the line, AU was a combined 16-of-16 from the stripe inside the final five minutes to fend off the Cobras.
ANDERSON STAT OF THE NIGHT
The Trojans connected on 25-of-27 free throws for a season-high 92.6 percent accuracy.
NOTABLES
• The Trojans are alone in fifth place in the conference standings, one game behind Tusculum, and two games ahead of sixth-place Mars Hill and Lenoir-Rhyne, in the battle for the eight-team SAC Tournament.
• With three games left in the regular season, the Trojans have equaled last season's win total.
• The Trojans have already surpassed last year's conference win total.
• The 25 made free throws were a season-high for AU.
• AU won the rebounding battle, 29-26.
• Anderson holds a 21-16 advantage in the overall series with the Cobras.
UP NEXT
AU will open its final two-game homestand of the regular season by playing host to Mars Hill on Senior Day at the Abney Athletic Center, Saturday afternoon. The Trojans will be looking for a sweep of the season series after defeating MHU, 84-77, in mid-January. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.
