Box Score
Box score
WINGATE, N.C. - The Anderson University men's basketball team
suffered its lowest shooting percentage in at least five seasons,
as the Trojans wrapped up their three-game South Atlantic
Conference road swing with an 85-75 setback to Wingate Saturday
afternoon at Cuddy Arena.
Anderson (16-6, 11-5 SAC) slipped into a tied for second place
in the league standings, while seeing its win streak halted at
seven games. Wingate improved to 13-7 overall and 10-6 in the
conference and has won two of its last three.
The Trojans held a 47-44 rebounding advantage and pulled down 16
offensive boards, while scoring 18 points off 11 Bulldog turnovers,
but it was not enough to offset their 29.2 percent shooting from
the field.
Anderson senior guard Chandler Hash poured in a game-high 27
points, including 25 in the second half, while adding three steals
and three assists. Junior guard Myson Jones netted 19 points and
senior guard CJ Gleaton tallied 17 points, nine rebounds, two
assists and a pair of steals.
Junior guard Ryan Daye led the Bulldogs with 19 points, while
sophomore guard Xavier Griffin netted 15 points. Senior Deion
Turman posted a double-double with 15 points and a game-high 13
rebounds. Freshman Isiah Cureton chipped in 12 points and 11
boards.
"The effort was there," said Anderson head coach Jason Taylor.
"We played hard but we have to play better. Despite shooting just
29 percent, we still had an opportunity to win the game."
Early long-range accuracy propelled Wingate to a 13-6 lead, as
the Bulldogs connected on 3-of-4 treys inside the opening five
minutes of the contest, while Gleaton's traditional three-point
play pulled AU within 13-9 at the 14:27 mark of the opening
frame
But WU answered with its fourth 3-pointer in five attempts to
push back out to a seven-point cushion 19 seconds later. With 14:09
remaining in the first half, Wingate was shooting 85.7 percent from
the field, while the Trojans were just 3-of-14 (21.4 percent).
Less than three minutes later, Anderson junior Nick Jackson
nailed a 3-pointer from the right wing to trim the Bulldog lead to
17-14, but the Bulldogs countered with seven unanswered points and
pushed out to a double-digit, 25-15 cushion with 7:43 left in the
first half. Shooting woes continued to plague the Trojans, as AU
was just 4-of-21 (19 percent) through the first 13 minutes as
Wingate steadily built a 14-point lead with just more than a minute
left in the first half.
Anderson center Chris Ross countered by dropping in a basket and
Gleaton drained a 3-pointer as Anderson closed the half with five
straight points and trailed 36-27 at intermission.
Wingate posted five straight points to open the second half and
reclaimed a 14-point lead, but Jones cut the deficit in half by
netting seven straight points for Anderson, as the Trojans pulled
within 41-34 with 17:28 left.
Anderson still trailed by double digits with less than 13
minutes on the clock when Hash connected on his first 3-pointer of
the afternoon and Gleaton dropped in one-of-two from the line to
pull AU within 52-46. The Trojans closed the gap to six on four
more occasions before Hash's layup at the 5:07 mark pulled Anderson
within 67-64, but the Bulldogs withstood the challenge as Cureton
responded with a jumper and Terrill Hilliard added a trey to boost
the Wingate advantage back to eight, at 72-64.
Hash knocked down another 3-pointer, moments later, but five was
as close as the Trojans would get over the final 3:26, as the
Bulldogs made just enough free throws (7-of-11) inside the final
three minutes to hold off the Trojans for the third consecutive
time.
Anderson returns to the Abney Athletic Center on Wednesday, as the
Trojans open a two-game homestand by playing host to Mars Hill at 8
p.m. The contest will be a rematch of the Jan. 15 contest that saw
AU defeat the Lions, 79-70, in Mars Hill, N.C.