MARS HILL, N.C. – Sophomore guard Michael Houge's layup with 31.5 seconds left in the game gave Mars Hill an 83-82 lead and the Lions held off Anderson for an 85-82 win in South Atlantic Conference men's basketball action, Wednesday night at Stanford Arena.
Anderson (3-4, 1-4 SAC) suffered its third straight setback and is searching for its first road victory of the season, while Mars Hill (4-4, 4-1 SAC) has won three of its last four and four of its last six decisions.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Forward Jalen Hillery led the Trojans with a season-high 19 points and was 7-of-12 from the field on the night. Junior guard Crosby James II added 16 points, four assists and two steals, while guard Collin Mills recorded a season-high 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting and swiped a pair of steals. The freshman from nearby Asheville, N.C., also grabbed a season-best four rebounds.
Josh Livingston nearly recorded his second double-double of the season after netting 11 points and recording a team-high eight rebounds. Guard Mason carver struggled from the field, but was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line and finished with eight points, two assists and a steal.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
The opening half featured six ties and seven lead changes, with four of the ties coming in a four-minute span late in the frame and neither team was able to build more than a seven-point lead throughout the opening 20 minutes.
With Mars Hill holding an early, 9-8, edge the Lions capped a 6-0 spurt with four straight free throws to claim their largest lead of the night, at 15-8, with 15:41 on the clock.
But the Trojans stayed within two possessions and reeled off 11 unanswered points over a four-minute span midway through the half, with James capping the rally with a layup at the 9:15 mark that gave AU a 27-22 lead.
The back-and-forth inside the final eight minutes featured a pair of lead changes, with the Trojans closing the half on a 9-0 run and taking a 42-36 halftime advantage.
Second Half
The Trojans' lead hovered between two and eight points until the 7:44 mark, when Livingston ignited a 7-0 surge with a 3-pointer from the right side, with AU taking a 76-67 lead on a pair of free throws from Carver.
AU still led by nine (81-72) following Hillery's seventh basket of the night with just more than four minutes left in the game, but the Trojans would be able to manage just a free throw inside the final four minutes.
The Lions scored six straight points to climb within 81-78, before Livingston sank 1-of-2 from the line to give AU a four-point lead with 2:46 on the clock. Houge then misfired on two free throw attempts 14 seconds later, but the Lions forced a turnover and freshman Kadyn Dawkins banked in a 3-pointer from the left wing to get MHU within 82-81 at the 1:55 mark.
After each team misfired on jumpers and grabbed their own misses and misfired again, there was a battle for the rebound and the possession arrow pointed to the Trojans with 51.4 ticks remaining. But Mars Hill's Isaiah Jones came up with a steal and found Houge, who laid it in for the Lions' first lead of the second half (83-82), with 31.5 seconds left.
The Trojans missed on a potential go-ahead basket with 9.2 on the clock, but corralled the rebound. Following a 30-second timeout, AU turned the ball over on the inbounds pass and was forced to send Jones to the free throw line. He connected on 1-of-2, while missing the second attempt, but Mars Hill pulled down the miss and the Trojans were forced to send Dawkins to the charity stripe, where the guard missed the first but made the second to give the Lions an 85-82 lead with 4.5 seconds on the clock.
The Trojans still had life, but their final 3-point attempt rattled in and out at the buzzer.
STAT OF THE GAME
Mars Hill out-rebounded the Trojans, 45-35, and pulled down 17 offensive rebounds, but AU outscored the Lions, 15-10, in second-chance points.
NOTABLES
• AU outshot Mars Hill, 48.5%-44.9%.
• The Trojans committed 13 turnovers, but forced 12 turnovers.
• Anderson holds a 20-13 advantage in the all-time series.
UP NEXT
The Trojans will wrap up the three-game SAC road trip by visiting Carson-Newman, Saturday afternoon. Tip-off vs. the Eagles in Jefferson City, Tenn., is scheduled for 4 p.m.
