WINGATE, N.C. – A second-half scoring drought of seven minutes proved costly, as the Anderson men's basketball team opened its final two-game South Atlantic Conference regular season road swing with an 85-69 setback to Wingate, Wednesday night, at Cuddy Arena.
Anderson slipped to 11-15 overall and 8-14 in league play, while Wingate improved to 19-6 and 15-6 with its third straight win and ninth victory in its last 10 outings.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Junior guard Crosby James II scored a team-high 23 points, including 16 in the first half, on 8-of-13 shooting from the field. The Columbia, native was 5-of-7 from beyond the arc on the night. Forward Josh Livingston added 14 points and seven rebounds, with forward Parker Dortch notching 12 points and a pair of steals. Junior forward Mack Burgett scored six points, dished out three assists and pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.
Wingate junior guard Andreas Wilson came off the bench to score a game-high 29 points in 21 minutes of action by going 9-of-13 from the field and connecting on six 3-pointers. Freshman Destin Clark added 14 points for the Bulldogs, while two-time SAC Player of the Week Jarren Cottingham netted 13 points and sophomore Donell Nixon chipped in 12.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
The Trojans scorched the nets in the opening half by shooting nearly 64 percent from the field, with James going 4-for-4 from long range in the first half.
When Livingston drained his first 3-pointer of the night at the 8:24 mark, it gave AU its largest lead of the contest, at 27-14. Four minutes later, the Trojans still led by nine (36-27), but Wingate's Wilson fueled a late first half run by coming off the bench to score 11 points inside the final five minutes, including knocking down three consecutive 3-pointers, as the Bulldogs went on a 13-3 run in the final 3:34 to take their first lead of the game (40-39) into halftime.
Second Half
The lead changed hands three times in the opening seven minutes of the second frame, before the Trojans went scoreless for exactly seven minutes, enabling Wingate to go on a 20-2 run and put the game out of reach.
ANDERSON STAT OF THE NIGHT
The Trojans committed a season-high 21 turnovers.
NOTABLES
• The Trojans and Bulldogs have met 31 times since the 2001-02 season, with Wingate holding a 22-9 edge in the all-time series
• Wingate has won 12 of the last 14 matchups.
• Crosby James now has 1,065 career points and needs 56 points to pass former standout Shawn Benard for 12th place in the school record books.
• Josh Livingston has recorded at least five rebounds in four straight games.
• With two games remaining on their regular-season slate, AU is in ninth place in the battle for a berth in next month's eight-team SAC Tournament - one game behind seventh-place Catawba and a half-game behind eighth-place Lenoir-Rhyne. AU swept LR during the regular season and fell to Catawba in early January.
UP NEXT
The Trojans wrap up their regular-season road slate by traveling to Catawba, Saturday afternoon, then close out the regular season by playing host to Tusculum a week from Saturday. The Trojans will be looking to earn a split of the regular season series after falling to both the Indians and Pioneers earlier this season.
