MARS HILL, N.C. – Mars Hill took advantage of six first-half treys and shot nearly 53 percent from the field to build a 14-point cushion late in in the first half and the Trojans were unable to recover, as the Lions defeated Anderson, 88-79, in the regular-season finale, Wednesday night at Stanford Arena.

Anderson slipped to 6-11 in the league and 6-11 overall, while Mars Hill (2-15, 2-15 SAC) snapped an 11-game skid with the victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Junior guard Kai Rivers led the Trojans with 20 points and notched his second double-double of the season by pulling down a career-high, game high 14 rebounds. Junior Jalen Hillery added 17 points and seven boards, with senior forward Josh Livingston netting 13 points. Junior guard Joseph Staton came off the bench to score eight points in 15 minutes of action.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
With the score knotted at five apiece less than two minutes into the game, the Lions went on a 12-3 run to garner a lead that they would not surrender the rest of the night.

A Livingston 3-pointer from the right side and a layup by Rivers trimmed Mars Hill's lead to just four with 13:31 on the clock, but the Lions built a double-digit, 26-16, advantage at the 11:25 mark and held at least a two possession cushion, with Hillery knocking down his first 3-pointer from the left corner eight minutes later to pull AU within 39-34.

But the Lions answered by scoring the next nine points to claim their largest lead of the night, at 48-34, before Rivers closed the final 1:19 of the half with five straight points to set the halftime score at 48-39.

Second Half
AU opened the second half with 12-5 surge, including seven straight points to climb within 53-51, with nearly 17 minutes left in the game. But AU was unable overtake the Lions, despite getting as close as a deuce on three more occasions.

After falling behind by eight late, the Trojans later closed within four (83-79) on Rivers' steal and layup with 2:28 remaining in the game, but AU was unable to put any more points on the scoreboard, while Mars Hill dropped in a 3-pointer and connected on 2-of-4 free throws down the stretch.

ANDERSON STAT OF THE NIGHT
The Trojans finished up the regular season by playing 11 games in 22 days.

NOTABLES
• Mars Hill led for all but the first 38 seconds of the contest.
• The Lions out-rebounded AU, 44-42.
• Tonight's contest marked the first meeting between the two teams since Feb. 22, 2020.
• Anderson holds a 20-12 advantage in the all-time series after sweeping the regular-season matchups in three of the previous four seasons
• The Trojans have claimed 17 of the last 21 meetings.

UP NEXT
The No. 8-seeded Trojans will play host to ninth-seeded Coker in the first-round of the 2021 SAC Pilot Flying J Basketball Championship on Saturday. Tip-off vs. the Cobras will follow the conclusion of the AU women's contest, which is scheduled to start at 2 p.m.