ANDERSON, S.C. – Anderson University Men's Basketball (29-3, 20-2 SAC) capped a historical season after falling 69-70 to No. 8 Young Harris (23-8, 16-4 CC) at home during the first round of the NCAA Regional Tournament Saturday evening.
"It has been an absolute joy coaching this wonderful group of men." said head coach
Jimmie Williams. "Tough one tonight but it doesn't take away anything from what we have accomplished."
The Mountain Lions found an early rhythm, posting a 12-point lead just seven minutes into the opening half. The Trojans struggled to close the large gap with Young Harris extending their lead to 13. The Black and Gold cut the margin to three with just 27 seconds left in the first before the Lions responded with a good jumper to finish the half.
Coming out of the break attempting the close the gap, the Trojans rallied 14-6 to gain their first lead of the game. A tightly contested half kept the score within a possession as both teams played in a back-and-forth battle on the court. Trailing by one with four seconds left, the Trojans committed a pair of late fouls in the final seconds, allowing Young Harris to extend the margin and seal the win.
Four Trojans tallied double digits on the board with graduate
Kadyn Dawkins (Greensboro, N.C.) posting 21 to lead the Black and Gold. Dawkins shot 50.0% from the floor 44.4% from deep and went 3-for-3 from the charity stripe while adding two steals to Anderson's final tally.
Junior
Osmar Garcia-Araujo (Sugar Hill, Ga.) notched 16 points on the game, shooting 66.6% from both the floor and the foul stripe. The Sugar Hill native helped lead the Trojans defensively with five boards and two steals. Junior
AJ Wright Jr. (Clearwater, Fla.) posted 13 points on the board while leading Anderson with three steals. Rounding out the double-digit scoring for the Black and Gold and tallying 10 points was sophomore
Caleb McAbee (Saint Johns, Fla.).
Despite the Lions leading the game in most statistical categories, the Black and Gold posted an 81.8 free throw percentage while also tallying four blocks, 11 steals and 32 points in the paint to hold a statistical edge.
"It's always hard when it ends but this one stings more than most because of how close we are." added Williams. "Credit to Young Harris, they made shots and were ready to play. One day soon we will be able to fully appreciate our accomplishments but tonight we are just hurting. I am so proud of these guys and who they are."
Tonight's contest marks the end of a season that rewrote the Trojan history books.
