JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Trailing by as many as 28 points late in the first half, the Anderson University (13-11, 8-8 SAC) men's basketball team was able to outscore the Eagles of Carson-Newman (19-6, 12-5 SAC) by a 71-49 margin in the second half thanks in part to a massive performance from freshman AJ Wright Jr. (Tampa, Fla.) but fell just short completing the comeback as they fell by a final score of 103-101.
Wright Jr. led the Trojans with 25 points on the afternoon, all of which he scored in the second half of the contest. He completed his double-double on the day with 12 assists and recorded five steals. Senior Garrett Denbow (Ashland, Ohio) recorded 20 points in the game with three boards while senior Mack Burgett (Richmond, Va.) tallied 14 points and three rebounds.
Anderson was able to jump out to an early advantage in the contest, but that was short-lived as the Eagles were able to retake the lead before the first media timeout of the contest at 15-9. Unfortunately for the Trojans that margin continued to open to 13 at the next stoppage and ballooned to 15 with under eight minutes to play in the first half.
As the half continued the Eagles advantage reached as high as 28 points, but the Trojans were able to cut that by four points in the final minute of the first frame to trail 54-30 heading into the break.
The second half was where the Trojans truly shined, outscoring the Eagles by 22 points led by a inspired performance from AJ Wright Jr., who tallied his entire scoring line in the frame. By the first scheduled media timeout the Trojans had already brought the margin down by four points. The Eagles advantage teetered around 20 points for a large portion of the second half until the under-8 media timeout when the Black and Gold truly kicked their offense into gear.
With 4:48 left in the contest, the Trojans had worked the Eagles lead down to 14 points and further brought it back to single digits with 2:40 to play in the second half. A five-point run from Anderson closed the gap to just five points and a layup by Wright Jr. with 28 seconds left to play chipped off another point off their lead. A pair of made free throws and a three-pointer by Wright closed the gap to just two points, however, making that basket with just two seconds left on the game clock secured that fate for the Trojans as they dropped the contest 103-101.
Anderson returns to action on Wednesday, February 21 as they travel to Newberry, S.C. to take on the Wolves in a conference battle set for a 7:30 p.m. tip.
