Box Score
COLUMBUS, Ga. -- In the midst of its season-high five-game road
stretch and for the second straight contest, the Anderson men's
basketball team used torrid long-range shooting as the Trojans
outpaced Columbus State, 80-68, in non-conference play Friday night
at the Lumpkin Center. Anderson (7-1) stayed perfect on the season
versus Peach Belt opponents, having already defeated Lander and
North Georgia, and extended its win streak to three games, while
Columbus State, owners of a win past then third-ranked Valdosta
State in early December, fell to 4-3 on the season. "We played hard
and everyone played well," Anderson head coach Jason Taylor said.
"The difference was that we rebounded well in the second half. We
were fortunate to get a win on the road." Anderson shot a
blistering 60 percent (6-10) of its three-pointers in the first
half and carried a 29-28 lead into bhalftime. The Trojans took
leads of seven points on two occasions in the final eight minutes
of the opening half, the first coming at the 7:35 mark on a Taylor
Shugart jumper. After the Cougars scored five unanswered points,
Oskars Ernsteins drilled a three-pointer and Brandon Young followed
with a layup to put AU back up 26-19 with 4:33 on the clock. CSU
trimmed the AU lead to 26-24 at the 3:37 mark, but Nick Trull hit
another triple from the perimeter to put the Trojans back up by
five, but the Cougars scored the last four points of the half to
trail by just one at the break. Leading by two early in thet second
stanza, Tony Anderson hit the first 3-pointer of the half for the
Trojans at the 18:17 mark to put the Trojans up by five. He drained
a second one just over a minute later to push the lead to eight
points at 40-32. AU gained an 11-point cushion, 51-40, with 12:44
to play in taking its biggest lead of the game to that point. CSU
refused to go away, however, and climbed back to within 51-47
midway through the half, but that would prove to be as close as the
Cougars could get. The Trojans responded with a 10-4 run over the
next two minutes. Brandon Young's layup with 8:29 left made it
61-51. Four Trojans hit double figures in the scoring column, led
by Tony Anderson's game-high 20 points. Brandon Young added 16
points and shared team-high assist honors with teammate Kevis
Cornwell, as each handed out five on the night. Oskars Ernsteins
netted 14 points and Nick Trull chipped in 12 points. Cornwell also
collected a team-best eight rebounds on the night. Anderson shot 43
percent overall from the floor, going 15-of-39 inside the arc and
12-24 from beyond the arc. The Trojans hit 14 of 21 free throws and
committed 14 turnovers. Following a two-week break for Christmas,
the Trojans get back into Conference Carolinas action on Monday,
Jan. 4, when Anderson visits Lees-McRae. Tip-off at Williams Gym is
scheduled for 7:30 p.m.in the second game of a women's-men's
doubleheader.