WINGATE, N.C. – Trying to avenge a last-second buzzer beater when the teams met in the Abney Athletic Center, the Anderson University (14-12, 9-9 SAC) men's basketball team unfortunately fell to the same result against Wingate (20-6, 15-3 SAC) on Saturday, February 28 as they fell 91-90 in overtime at Cuddy Arena.
Sophomore Cole Middleton (Atlanta, Ga.) posted career-high marks in points and rebounds in the contest as he turned in a double-double performance tallied 31 points and 15 boards. Senior Garrett Denbow (Ashland, Ohio) was able to record 17 points in the contest while senior Mack Burgett (Richmond, Va.) added 16 to the Trojans tally. Freshman AJ Wright Jr. (Tampa, Fla.) notched a team-high six assists to go with his 12 points while junior Austin Webb (South Point, Ohio) chipped in 10 points in the contest to round out the double-digit scorers.
The contest was in a dead heat throughout the opening half of action, with the Trojans trailing the Bulldogs by just two points after the first break, a gap they would close immediately coming out of the stoppage. The two teams continued back and forth with the Trojans taking over the advantage with just under eight minutes of action remaining in the first half, 23-20.
The lead continued to exchange hands throughout the remainder of the opening stanza, but it was the Trojans who were eventually able to take the lead into the halftime break as a pair of free-throws by Burgett sealed their 37-point first half to hold the one-point advantage over the Bulldogs.
The second half was a copy and paste performance from the opening 20 minutes of action as both teams were able to extend leads to two-score games before their opponents were able to corral it back in. A dunk by Middleton with just 27 seconds left in the contest looked as though it might give Wingate the look they wanted with the final shot of regulation, but a great defensive play by Garrett Denbow kept the Bulldogs of the board and sent the game into overtime.
Anderson was able to pull away in the early goings of the overtime period, boosting their lead to five with just over two minutes to play. However, the Bulldogs were able to close that gap to just one point two times, including with just 51 seconds left in the contest. With the Trojans leading 90-89, the Bulldogs worked their way up the floor and called the timeout with five seconds remaining in the contest. Unfortunately for the Trojans, at the buzzer a costly foul gave the Bulldogs the two free-throws they needed to wrap up the win at 91-90.
The Trojans return home for their final two matches of the regular season as they welcome in Mars Hill on February 28 before turning their sights to Tusculum at home on Saturday, March 2.
