ANDERSON, S.C. -- The Trojans got their fifth straight win Saturday afternoon at the Abney Athletic Center, topping Tusculum University 83-70. The Trojans are now 10-5 overall and 6-5 in the South Atlantic Conference.

"Fun game today in front of a packed house," head coach Jimmie Williams said. "We spent our Christmas break getting better defensively, and it's good to see the fruits of our labor. They started out red hot. I think they hit their first 6 or 7 threes. Once we settled in we began to win the shot quality battle by forcing tough ones, and working to get great ones. We moved the ball really well against their matchup zone. 24 assists will almost always lead to a win. Sam got going from three, Malachi and Sent were huge for us off the bench, and I am really proud of the week AJ Wright has had. He leaves it all out there and makes winning plays on both ends. As the second semester begins I am so excited to get our Trojan Army back from the break! Going to be a fun semester in Abney. I love this team."

The Pioneers held the lead for 16 minutes of the first half with the Trojans finishing the half on a 16-5 run to take a 37-35 lead going into the locker room.

The Trojans shot 56.1 percent on the day to the Pioneers' 39.7 and won the boards 38-33. 

Sam Perez (Apex, N.C.) topped his old career-high by five points, putting up 24 along with six rebounds and three assists in just 29 minutes of play. He shot 9-12 from the field and had a career-high six triples. 

AJ Wright Jr. (Tampa, Fla.) dished out 10 assists with five points and three steals. 

Austin Webb (South Point, Ohio) dropped 17 points, adding six rebounds and three assists. 

Cole Middleton (Atlanta, Ga.) came up with 14 points while Sentinel Moore (Oklahoma City, Okl.) was the fourth Trojan in double digits with 10 points. He added six rebounds. 

Malachi Reeves (Lexington, S.C.) came off the bench with a well-rounded statline of nine points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals.

The Trojans are back at home on Wednesday, Jan. 15th when they host No. 16 Lenoir-Rhyne at 7:30 p.m.