ROCK HILL, S.C. – Anderson University Men's Basketball (28-2, 20-2 SAC) notched its third ticket in program history to the South Atlantic Conference Championship match after narrowly defeating the Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters (19-11, 14-8) in a chilling 66-61 Semifinal victory Friday evening.
"Love is action." said head coach
Jimmie Williams. "Our guys gave everything they had tonight and had eachothers back out there. Our connection was out competitive advantage."
The Trojans rallied early, surging past the Railsplitters with an 8-0 run at the start. The Black and Gold tallied a 10-point lead in the first ten minutes of play, retaining a large gap for the duration of the half. Anderson's defense proved dominant, putting a stop to LMU's persistent attempts to close the gap.
Coming out of the break, the Trojans caught fire from the floor with a 7-2 run, boasting a 13-point lead with 17 minutes until the final buzzer. Lincoln Memorial capitalized on a few opportunities to close the gap within striking distance, but the Trojans offense answered each surge to rebuild its lead. With just 52 seconds left in the final half, the Railsplitters cut their deficit to a single possession. A jumper by
Osmar Garcia-Araujo put the Trojans ahead five before the LMU successfully answered with a good layup. With a 3-point lead and 14 seconds until the buzzer the Railsplitters committed a late foul for
AJ Wright Jr. to post two more on the final score.
Leading the Trojans offensively was senior
Malachi Reeves (Lexington, S.C.) with 16 points and two assists while also notching five rebounds on the day. Junior
Osmar Garcia-Araujo (Suagar Hill, Ga.) and sophomore
Caleb McAbee (Saint Johns, Fla.) each put up 13 points for Anderson. Garcia-Araujo went 5-for-5 from the charity stripe and shot .521% from the floor. McAbee shot .525 overall and added a single steal to the Trojan's defensive numbers.
Junior
AJ Wright Jr. (Clearwater, Fla.) and graduate
Kadyn Dawkins (Greensboro, N.C.) rounded out the double-digit scorers for Anderson recording 12 and 10 points respectively and two steals from both sides. Wright Jr. added three assists and went 6-for-6 from the line while Dawkins posted a 66.6 three-point percentage.
The Black and Gold notched a perfect free throw percentage on the night with Wright J. shooting 6-for-6 and Garcia-Araujo going 5-for-5. The Railsplitters led the game offensively with Anderson shooting 41.4% from the floor and 26.9% from three. AU boasted 32 points in the paint, 13 bench points, and 10 fastbreak points for an overall edge over LMU.
"Really proud of how this team defends and solves problems." added Williams. "We can't wait for tomorrow. What a blessing it is to get to play in the SAC Championship game with this special group of guys."
Anderson moves on to the South Atlantic Conference Championship which will take place on Saturday, March 7 at the Rock Hill Sports and Events Center in Rock Hill, S.C. The Trojans will face the No. 3 seeded Catawba after they defeated No. 2 Lenoir-Rhyne in the Semifinals Friday night.
