ANDERSON, S.C. -- Paced by sophomore Taylor Shugart's
double-double, the Anderson men's basketball team defeated Coker,
89-81, in Conference Carolinas men's basketball action Thursday
night at the Abney Athletic Center. The 6-foot-7 center scored 21
points and recorded a game-high 11 rebounds, while teammate Tony
Anderson scored two rare four-point plays as the Trojans wrapped up
their three-game homestand by winning two of their last three and
improved to 9-2 at home. Anderson improved to 15-6 overall and 9-6
in the conference, while the Cobras suffered their second straight
setback, falling to 9-12 and 6-9 in the league. The last time these
two teams met, junior guard Oskars Ernsteins hit two free throws
with two seconds on the clock to lift Anderson to a 79-77 win, but
tonight didn't require any last-second heroics. Anderson, which
trailed just twice in the contest, used four consecutive 3-pointers
to push out to a 31-23 advantage with 7:37 left in the opening
half, but a scoring drought by the Trojans enabled the Cobras to
post a brief 6-0 run over the next five minutes and climb within
three, 32-29, at the 2:49 mark. But the Trojans closed out the half
by pushing back out to a nine-point lead, equaling its largest of
the opening 20 minutes of action and settling for a 40-32 halftime
cushion. Shugart sparked the surge with his ninth point of the half
and junior Trey Britton added four points from the free throw line
during the run. Junior guard Brandon Young connected on two from
the line and his steal and layup at the buzzer set the 40-32
halftime score. The AU run carried over into the second half, as
the Trojans claimed their largest lead of the night, 45-35, on a
3-pointer from junior forward Stephen Cobb. But the Cobras refused
to surrender, trimming the Anderson lead to a single point on three
occasions before taking their first lead since the opening minute
of the contest, 72-71, with under five minutes remaining. The Coker
lead was short-lived however as Anderson regained the advantage
with a lead it would not relinquish on back-to back 3s by Tony
Anderson. The Greenville, S.C. native notched the second of his
four-point plays on the night with 54 seconds left, giving AU an
83-77 lead. In addition to Shugart's stellar outing, Tony Anderson
added 20 points while Cobb netted 11 points, with Young and Kevis
Cornwell each tossing in 10 points. Guard Nick Trull came off the
bench and handed out a team-high five assists. "We were fortunate
to get the win tonight," Anderson head coach Jason Taylor said. "We
took good shots and had one of our best offensive games." Anderson
opens a three-game conference road swing on Saturday at St.
Andrews, with tip-off versus the Knights scheduled for 4 p.m. Box
Score