SALISBURY, N.C. – Heading into the Old North State for the second straight contest, the Anderson University (5-5, 0-2 SAC) men's basketball team found themselves on the unfavorable side of an 88-76 score line as they dropped a mid-week conference contest to Catawba on Wednesday, December 13.
Freshman AJ Wright Jr. (Tampa, Fla.) led the Trojans in points (15), assists (6), and steals (5) to have arguably his best performance this season with the Black and Gold since the season opener. Junior Austin Webb (South Point, Ohio) knocked down 14 points in the contest while leading the squad with seven boards. Senior Garrett Denbow (Ashland, Ohio) and freshman Dallas Jones (Gainesville, Fla.) both posted double-digit scoring in the game with Denbow scoring 13 and Jones adding 10.
Anderson started the contest on a 6-0 run that nearly extended into the first media timeout. Though the Trojans were able to add three more points to their tally before the contest reached that mark, the Indians were able to kick on their offense and post seven points on the board, closing the Trojan lead to just two at the stoppage. The Anderson lead continued to stay steady until just before the next timeout as Catawba hit a three-point shot just seconds before the stoppage to take a 21-18 lead.
By the next stoppage Catawba had doubled their advantage to six points, but Anderson was continuing to apply pressure on them, keeping the advantage to single digits heading into the final four minutes of the opening half. Anderson was able to score the final five points of the opening stanza, cutting the Catawba lead to just six at 44-38.
The Indians full-court defense continued to pay dividends for them in the second half as they were able to further extend their advantage over the Trojans in the opening four minutes, stretching it to 14. However, despite the score the Trojans continued to battle and were able to close that gap by a few points heading into the final eight minutes of action.
With the Catawba advantage ballooning to as many as 20 over the final stretch, Anderson continued to ramp up their defensive pressure and paired that with a consistent offensive flow that led them to bring the advantage back down to 10 and put the game in reach with just under two minutes to play. However that would be as close as they Trojans would get as Catawba was able to fend off their comeback bid, taking the contest 88-76.
Anderson returns to action on Saturday, December 16 as they play host to Carson-Newman in their conference home opener in the Abney Athletic Center. Tip-off is slated for 4:00 p.m.
