Box Score Box score
ANDERSON, S.C. - The Anderson University men's basketball team
saw its season come to an end with an 80-68 setback to Queens
University in South Atlantic Conference action Saturday afternoon
at the Abney Athletic Center.
The Trojans' first loss in four games dampened Senior Day
festivities and also kept Anderson (14-14, 10-12 SAC) from claiming
a berth in next week's conference tournament. Queens (16-12, 13-9
SAC) has now won two straight after snapping a four-game skid with
a convincing win over Catawba three nights ago and swept the season
series with Anderson for the first time since the 2006-07 campaign,
when both teams were members of Conference Carolinas.
Anderson won the rebounding battle, 34-29, and grabbed eight
offensive boards, but the Royals converted 17 Trojan turnovers on
the afternoon into 25 points and became the first conference
opponent this season to shoot better than 50 percent from the field
in both league matchups.
Senior Myson Jones led the Trojan attack with 16 points and
dished out four assists, while fellow seniors Chris Ross and Nick
Jackson added 10 points apiece. Jackson also shared team-high
rebounding honors with freshman Matthew McClain, as each pulled
down six boards.
Queens junior Jedarian Jackson notched a game-high 23 points and
narrowly missed a double-double with nine rebounds. Junior Rob
Lewis tossed in 18 points, with junior Marquis Rankin netting 12
points and dishing out nine assists.
Nick Jackson dropped in the first score of the contest to put
the Trojans ahead early, but Queens responded with seven straight
points to take the lead. A long 3-pointer from the right side by
Jones knotted the score for the first of five times on the
afternoon, with DJ McGowan dropping in a pair of free throws and
Jones capping an 8-0 outburst to give the Trojans a 12-7 edge -
their largest of the contest - at the 13:10 mark.
A pair of Trojan turnovers and a missed shot enabled the Royals
to retake a brief one-point lead with six straight points, but Tre'
Fields' first 3-pointer of the day regained a 15-13 advantage for
Anderson. Following a close-range jumper by Jedarian Jackson that
evened the score, Ross, who was hampered by early foul trouble,
dropped in a put-back and muscled in a short jumper to give the
Trojans their final lead of the afternoon, at 19-17, with 8:15
remaining in the first half.
The Royals countered with 12 unanswered points over the next
four-plus minutes, as Jerdarian Jackson dropped in five points to
fuel the decisive breakout. A 10-4 run by Anderson over the final
3:47 of the half, capped by three straight points from sophomore
Rakish Taylor, set the score at 33-29 as the teams headed to the
locker rooms.
Behind a 9-3 surge early in the second frame, the Trojans
battled back within 41-40 with more than 15 minutes left in the
contest, and knotted the score for the final time of the game, at
46-46, on Jones' third 3-pointer at the 13:26 mark. But the Trojans
would be unable to overtake the Royals, who responded with an 11-2
run to claim a lead they would not surrender.
Six consecutive free throws by four different Trojans pulled
Anderson within 57-54 with more than nine minutes left, but it was
as close as AU would get, as Queens captured a double-digit, 64-54,
advantage moments later on a 3-pointer from Lewis.
With the Trojans forced to foul, Queens was 7-of-9 from the line
inside the final 98 seconds to claim the win and the fourth seed in
the SAC Tournament.