ANDERSON, S.C. – Anderson University men's basketball (25-2, 19-2 SAC) secured the No. 1 seed in the South Atlantic Conference Tournament after an intense battle on the court, taking down Lenior-Rhyne (22-7, 16-5 SAC) 91-90 in overtime at home Wednesday evening.
"What an honor it is to be a part of this program." said head coach
Jimmie Williams. "We always talk about our connection being our competitive advantage."
After tipoff, the Trojans took an early 10-point lead with seven minutes remaining in the opening half. The Bears responded to each Trojan bucket, keeping the scoring tight as the break approached. Coming out of the half, Anderson pulled away to gain their largest lead of 12 before LR went on a large run to close the gap, evening the contest with just one minute left on the game clock in regulation.
In overtime, Anderson struck first with a jumper by freshman
Rashawn Inglemon (Sacramento, Calif.), giving the Black & Gold a brief edge in the extra period. Lenior-Rhyne responded with tough baskets to place the lead in the Bears' favor, putting them ahead, 90-89 with 34 seconds left. Anderson answered just in time when Inglemon hit a good jumper with seven seconds remaining. LR attempted to respond with a buzzer beater final shot, but the bucket was no good, giving the Trojans an exciting 91-90 victory in overtime.
"LR threw about everything at us tonight." added Williams. "There were too many big plays to mention them all but getting the stop at the end of overtime was our connection showing itself in the biggest moments. Rashawn hitting the game winner is a shot we will remember around here forever. Nobody works harder and is more confident in his ability to make a shot than him. After the game when he got the gold jersey in the locker room which is our player of the game, he stood up and said 'Thanks guys, but this one goes to
Sentinel Moore. We wouldn't have won without you,' and he threw the jersey to him. That's who these guys are. Unselfish and they pull for each other at an incredible level, and now they are conference champions."
Leading the Trojans' shooting was
Rashawn Inglemon with five Trojans putting up double-digits on the contest. The Sacramento native posted 22 points and four assists, shooting 42.1% from the floor, 37.5% from deep and 60.0% from the charity stripe. Inglemon also contributed six rebounds and one steal to AU's defense.
Junior Osmar Garcia Araujo (Sugar Hill, Ga.) added 18 points with three assists and went 6-for-6 from the line for a perfect free-throw percentage in addition to a 54.5 field goal percentage. Junior
AJ Wright Jr. (Clearwater, Fla.) posted a perfect three-point percentage and shot 52.5% from the floor to tally 14 points and five assists. The Clearwater native also grabbed six boards and four steals to lead the Black & Golds defense. Senior
Kadyn Dawkins (Greensboro, N.C.) registered 13 points on the game, shooting 83.3% overall and a perfect 100% from behind the arc and at the line. Sophomore
Sentinel Moore (Oklahoma City, Okla.) rounds out Anderson's double-digit shooters with ten points going 3-for-3 from the field and 4-for-6 from the stripe. Defensively, Moore grabbed five boards and recorded a single block during the contest.
Both the Bears and the Trojans posted a 56.1 field goal percentage with Anderson holding the edge over LR with a 57.9 three-point percentage and a 72.75 free throw percentage with 23 points off turnovers.
"We have more left to do, but I'm so proud of this team."
The Black and Gold finalize the South Atlantic Conference regular season on Saturday when they travel to Tusculum. The contest is slated for 4 p.m. in Greeneville, Tenn. and will be streamed on FloSports.com.
