BANNER ELK, N.C. – Hitting the road for the first time this season, the Anderson University (3-1) men's basketball team fell for the first time this season as they dropped a 101-90 decision to Lees-McRae in Banner Elk, N.C. on Saturday, November 18.
Sophomore Luke Denbow (Ashland, Ohio) led the scoring for the Trojans as he was able to tally 19 points on 6-for-15 from the floor. Senior Garrett Denbow (Ashland, Ohio) and sophomore Cole Middleton (Atlanta) each pitched in 14 points in the loss while junior Jackson Greco (Canton, Ga.) added 12 to the tally. Senior Mack Burgett (Richmond, Va.) led the team in boards with nine while Garrett Denbow recorded eight.
The Trojans recorded the first four points on the contest as both teams took a few minutes to find their groove offensively in the opening half. After an 8-3 advantage at the first media timeout, the Trojans were able to further open up their lead to an eight-point margin at the under-12 media, 19-11.
Anderson was able to expand that lead by one more point over the next four minutes, but started to get into some foul trouble down the stretch of the first half. Heading into the final four-minutes of the opening stanza, the Trojans consistently kept their lead in the double-digits until the final buzzer, with Lees-McRae scoring a bucket with two seconds on the clock to bring the halftime margin to eight at 49-41.
The offenses come out blazing in the second half as the two teams combined for a total of nine-points in the opening 90 seconds of action. A pair of lay-ups and a few free throws for the Bobcats were able to close the gap to just three with the Trojans leading 60-57 with 15 minutes left to play.
Anderson worked their advantage back up to seven, but the Bobcats were relentless in their pursuit, tying the contest up at 67 with just over 11 minutes of action remaining. The final ten minutes of action were all with momentum on the Bobcats side of the ball as they continued to slowly extend their lead through the closing minutes to take the 101-90 win over the Trojans.
Anderson returns to action on Tuesday, November 21 as they travel to Charlotte, N.C. to take on Johnson C. Smith for a 7:30 p.m. tip.
