ANDERSON, S.C. – Parker Dortch and Quin Nottingham combined for 58 points and Josh Livingston posted his first double-double of the season to help lead Anderson past Lander, 76-71, in overtime, Saturday afternoon at the Abney Athletic Center.
"I could not be more excited for the guys to start with a couple of really good wins against two quality Peach Belt (Conference) opponents," said Anderson head coach Jeff Brookman. ". It was definitely the tale of two halves today as we did not play a complete first half. The second half we executed better on both ends of the floor. Our defense was really good, we got out to shooters and we communicated at a high level. We will enjoy these two wins tonight and be ready to focus on the start of conference play."
Anderson improved to 2-0 on the early season, while Lander fell to 0-2.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Dortch finished the day with a double-double after pouring in a game-high 30 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. The Columbus, N.J., native was 9-of-21 (42.9%) from the field, and went 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. He was also 8-of-10 from the charity stripe. Nottingham tossed in 28 points on 11-of-24 shooting from the field and was a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line. He also dished out a game-high five assists and recorded four rebounds, while playing all 45 minutes of the contest.
Livingston netted 10 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds for his first double-double of the campaign, while going 4-of-8 from the field. The guard duo of Mason carver and Myles Jenkins each pulled down five rebounds apiece.
Junior Deandre Robinson led four Bearcats in double figures with 16 points. Martin Vogts adding 11 points, with Jared Sherfield and Dominic Stanford each notching 10 points apiece.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
The Bearcats were 17-of-35 (48.6%) from the field in the opening half, but were even hotter from beyond the arc, as the visitors connected on four of their eight 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes to keep the Trojans at bay.
Behind Robinson's seven points inside the opening seven minutes, the Bearcats began the contest by racing out to a 14-5 lead, but the Trojans stayed steady and trimmed the deficit to just one at the 10:40 mark, as Nottingham ignited a 10-2 surge with a pair of jumpers, while Livingston and Dortch followed with back-to-back treys.
AU was unable to completely overtake the Bearcats, however as they answered each time the Trojans climbed back within a single possession. Dortch's trey with 4:31 left in the first half pulled the Black and Gold within just 29-27, but Lander countered by closing the half on a 13-4 run and taking an 11-point lead into the break.
Second Half
The Bearcats held at least a one-point lead through the first 12:16 of the second stanza, before AU finally broke through and claimed their first lead of the afternoon on a 3-pointer by Dortch with 7:44 remaining in regulation.
It was then the Trojans' turn to maintain the advantage and they steadily built their largest of the contest, at 65-58, with just 2:13 on the clock – but they would not score again in regulation, as Lander scored the final seven points to send the game into extra time.
Overtime
The score was deadlocked twice early in overtime, before Dortch gave the Trojans the lead for good (72-69) with an old-fashioned, hard-earned three-point play with just more than two minutes left. Following a pair of free throws on the other end, Nottingham dropped in a driving layup and closed out the scoring with a pair of clutch free throws with 11 seconds on the clock.
STAT OF THE DAY
After going 8-for-16 from long range in the opening half, Lander was just 2-for-17 in the second half and overtime.
NOTABLES
• For the second straight game, the Trojans won the rebounding battle after outrebounding the Bearcats, 43-42.
• The Trojans were 10-of-12 from the free throw line in the second half and a perfect 5-for-5 in the extra frame.
• AU was 16-of-19 (84.2%) from the free throw line on the day.
• The Trojans dropped two overtime decisions last season, while improving 21-19 overall in overtime contests.
• The Trojans won their third meeting in the last six matchups with the Bearcats, with Lander leading the all-time series, 11-5.
• Lander and AU have met just seven times since the 2008-09 campaign.
• The Trojans and Bearcats were even with 28 points apiece in the paint and each team scored 11 points off turnovers.
UP NEXT
The Trojans open South Atlantic Conference play with a brief one-game road swing, Wednesday at nationally-ranked Lincoln Memorial. Tip-off in Harrogate, Tenn. is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
