ANDERSON, S.C. - The Anderson men's basketball team trimmed a 17-point second-half deficit to just four with less than a minute remaining, but eventually fell, 83-75, to Young Harris in nonconference action Wednesday night at the Abney Athletic Center.

Despite getting career-high scoring efforts from junior Rakish Taylor and sophomore Maurice Howard, Anderson slipped to 2-4 on the season with its fourth loss in five outings since winning the season opener. Young Harris (2-6) earned its first road win of the season by snapping a four-game losing streak.

Howard, who was coming off a season-high 17-point effort in last week's win over Mars Hill, and freshman Randall Shaw led the Trojans with 20 points apiece, with Howard adding six rebounds and a pair of assists on the night. Taylor dropped in 19 points, including 12 in the second half, while pulling down a game-high 13 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.

The Mountain Lions dominated the rebounding battle in the first half, but ended up with a 39-37 edge on the glass, while the Trojans outscored Young Harris, 44-38, in the paint.

The Trojans started slowly on the offensive end, connecting on just three of their first nine shots from the field, including misfiring on their first three attempts from beyond the arc. Taylor's putback with more than two minutes gone got AU on the scoreboard and knotted the score for the first of seven times - all in the opening half.

Shaw's first 3-pointer of the night from deep on the left side gave the Trojans their first lead of the contest, at 13-12, with 14:15 left in the first half. And following a traditional three-point play from YHC's Marcellus Roberts that regained the lead for the Mountain Lions, Taylor evened the score at 15 apiece less than 10 seconds later. Shaw followed with another trey from the left side to give Anderson its largest lead of the night, at 18-15, with 13:01 left in the opening frame.

Young Harris countered with an 8-2 run, fueled by back-to-back 3-pointers to regain a lead that the Mountain Lions would not relinquish. After Shaw dropped in a layup that pulled AU within 23-22, Young Harris posted a 16-4 scoring outburst that turned the narrow edge into a 39-26 advantage with less than four minutes left in the half. The Trojans were unable to cut into the lead and the Mountain Lions held a double-digit, 45-35, lead at intermission.

Taylor scored the first basket of the second half for the Black and Gold, but Young Harris countered with nine unanswered points to claim its largest lead of the game, at 54-37, at the 17:23 mark of the second half. The Trojans refused to surrender and cut the Young Harris lead to single digits behind a 13-4 surge fueled by four points apiece from Shaw and Taylor.

The Mountain Lions rebuilt a 67-54 advantage midway through the frame, but AU stayed within striking distance and whittled the deficit to just 77-73 on Lex Davis' lone 3-pointer of the contest with 42.7 seconds left in the contest. But the Mountain Lions were a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line inside the final 35 seconds to seal the win.

The Trojans get back into South Atlantic Conference action by welcoming Queens University of Charlotte to the Abney Center on Saturday. Tip-off versus the Royals is slated for 4 p.m. in the second half of a men's/women's doubleheader.