Box Score
Box score
HICKORY, N.C. - The Anderson men's basketball team suffered its
first setback of the season, 74-73, to Lenoir-Rhyne in South
Atlantic Conference action Saturday night at Shuford Memorial
Gymnasium.
"The deciding factor was the first 35 minutes of the game," said
Anderson head coach Jason Taylor. "(Lenoir-Rhyne) executed well and
we did not. And we also have to do a better job with offensive
rebounding. We did do a good job of giving ourselves a chance to
win, though. I am proud of the way we came back."
Bidding to become the first team in school history to win its
first five contests of the season, Anderson (4-1, 1-1 SAC) fell
behind by as many as 15 points midway through the second half and
was unable to recover. Lenoir-Rhyne improved to 3-1 overall and 2-0
in conference play with its second consecutive win.
Anderson junior center Chris Ross opened the scoring with a
traditional three-point play and gave the Trojans what turned out
to be their largest lead of the contest when he followed with a
short jumper less than a minute into the game.
Bears' sophomore guard Will Perry connected on three consecutive
free throws at the 12:47 mark of the first half, tying the contest
at 12-12, marking the lone tie of the night. Anderson freshman Tony
Dargan drained 1-of-2 from the line 17 seconds later, with Perry
and Lenoir-Rhyne senior guard RJ. McClure hitting back-to-back
treys to regain a brief 18-13 edge for L-R and setting up the first
of four lead changes over the next four minutes.
Trailing, 18-17, Ross sandwiched a dunk and a layup around a jumper
from L-R's Mark Terell to give the Trojans their final advantage of
the night, at 21-20, with 6:32 left in the opening half.
The Bears responded by closing out the half with a 15-4
outburst, taking a 35-25 lead at the break.
AU opened the second stanza by outscoring the Bears, 12-5, and
trimmed the deficit to just five at the 13:50 mark, but it was as
close as the Trojans would get until the final three minutes of the
contest.
Trailing, 61-46, with less than six minutes to play, the Trojans
mounted a furious rally, as sophomore Myles Daniel ignited the
comeback with his lone 3-pointer of the night. Senior guard CJ
Gleaton added three points and guard Chandler Hash contributed five
points to fuel the rally, as AU closed the deficit to 65-61 with
2:46 on the clock.
Perry countered with another 3-pointer for Lenoir-Rhyne, but
Hash drained a trey and Gleaton added two from the line to pull
Anderson within 67-66. But the Bears connected on 7-of-8 from the
free throw line inside the final 41 seconds to seal the win, while
AU was 4-of-7 from the line in the final moments.
Ross finished with a career-high 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting
from the field and also recorded six rebounds. Senior guard
Chandler Hash added 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field,
while Gleaton tossed in 14 points. Junior guard Myson Jones scored
nine points, dished out five assists and swiped five steals, with
Daniel coming off the bench to tally seven points and share
game-high honors with five assists. Senior forward Kyle Sledge
collected a game-high nine rebounds.
McClure led all scorers with 29 points, with Perry adding 14 and
senior center Matt Kunz chipping in 11 points.
The Trojans close out their two-game SAC road swing by traveling
to preseason league-favorite Lincoln Memorial, which was ranked
13th in the nation in the most recent NABC/Division II Coaches'
Poll. Tip-off in Harrogate, Tenn., is slated for 8 p.m.
Tuesday.