ANDERSON, S.C. – Tusculum all-conference junior guard Trenton Gibson sank two free throws with 4.9 seconds on the clock to provide the winning margin, as Tusculum used a sizable rebounding advantage to outlast Anderson, 60-59, in South Atlantic Conference men's basketball action, Wednesday night at the Abney Athletic Center.
"It was a tough hard-fought loss tonight," said Anderson head coach Jeff Brookman. "Obviously we need to do a lot better job on the defensive glass and with our late game execution. The last two games we haven't been able to close out with a late lead. We'll learn from it and continue forward to the next game."
Anderson slipped to 1-4 on the season and 1-4 in the league with its third consecutive setback, while playing its first contest in 17 days. Tusculum (7-4, 7-4 SAC) snapped a two-game skid with the victory.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Senior forward Josh Livingston led three Trojans in double figures with 16 points and was 3-for-3 from behind the arc. Guard Tyler Henderson tossed in a season-high 13 points, handed out a game-high four assists and shared team-high honors with five rebounds. The freshman from Chesterfield, Va., was a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe. Junior guard Kai Rivers netted 12 points in the setback.
Tusculum forward Inady Legiste recorded a double-double with a game-high 20 points and 12 rebounds, while Gibson finished with 14 points and eight boards.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
With neither team managing to score a field goal until more than three minutes had elapsed, Rivers' old-fashioned three-point play at the 16:24 mark gave the Trojans an early lead, at 5-4, and AU edged out to a 13-10 lead on a layup from Rivers with just less than 14 minutes on the clock.
The Pioneers then reeled off eight unanswered points as part of a 13-1 scoring outburst that saw the visitors claim their largest lead of the night, at 23-14. Henderson then sandwiched a close jumper and a pair of free throws around two charity tosses by Rivers that pulled the Black and Gold within just 23-20 at the 6:14 mark.
Tusculum managed to hold the lead until Livingston drained his second 3-pointer of the half from just to the right of the circle to knot the score for the third time, at 29 apiece, before the Pioneers pushed back out to a 35-31 advantage. Henderson and Rivers combined to close the first-half scoring with three free throws to set the halftime score at 35-34.
Second Half
Legiste dropped in a layup midway through the second half to give the Pioneers a 51-46 lead – the largest by either team in the final half. The Trojans kept it close and took a 57-55 edge on Livingston's trey from deep in the left corner with 3:01 on the clock. Legiste pulled Tusculum within one with a free throw but misfired on his next two tosses from the line before connecting on another free throw to tie the score at 57-57 with 2:06 remaining.
Livingston answered with two more from the line to give AU another tenuous two-point advantage at the 1:41 mark, but it proved to be the Trojans final points. TU's Justin Mitchell made 1-of-2 from the line with 83 seconds left and the two teams traded missed shots, with Rivers rising to grab what might have been the clinching rebound with 28.3 ticks remaining, but he was called for traveling when he hit the court.
Tusculum inbounded the ball and let the clock run down before Gibson drew a foul when he went up from the right elbow. He sank both free throws and the Trojans were unable to get off a shot before committing a turnover with less than a second before the final horn.
STAT OF THE GAME
Tusculum pulled down 28 offensive rebounds and scored 29 second-chance points on the night.
NOTABLES
• Tusculum won the overall rebounding battle, 52-26.
• The Pioneers were just 2-of-21 (9.5%) from beyond the arc.
• AU slipped to 9-3 vs. the Pioneers at the Abney Center.
• Tusculum was briefly ranked in the NABC Division II Coaches Poll Top-25 earlier this season.
• The Trojans have recorded at least five treys in all five games, with a season-high 12 vs. Carson-Newman.
• Kai Rivers is 15-of-16 from the free throw line on the season.
• Tonight's contest marked the Trojans' first game since falling at home to Carson-Newman, 72-66, on Jan. 9.
• The Black and Gold is currently scheduled to play nine games over the next 20 days, with road games at Wingate, Mars Hill and Limestone postponed and yet to be rescheduled.
UP NEXT
The Trojans play host to Coker in the second game of a South Atlantic Conference doubleheader on Saturday. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m. at the Abney Athletic Center.
