ANDERSON, S.C. – The Anderson University men's basketball team erased a 15-point second-half deficit, but was unable to complete the rally, as Carson-Newman escaped the Abney Athletic center with a 73-70 South Atlantic Conference victory Wednesday night.
Anderson slipped to 10-13 overall and 8-9 in the league, while dropping its second decision in three outings. Carson-Newman (14-9, 11-6 SAC) earned a sweep of the season series with its second win in three games.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Junior guard Maurice Howard led the Trojan offensive attack with 19 points, including 16 in the second half and handed out a game-high four assists. Sophomore guard Andrew Boynton added 18 points and three assists, with Lex Davis netting 11 points. Freshman center Carlos Dotson pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
Carson-Newman steadily built a 16-8 advantage midway through the opening frame and edged out to a double-digit, 22-12, lead with 7:21 remaining in the first half. While Howard connected on one of two free throws a minute later to trim the deficit to single digits, the Eagles responded with an 8-2 surge to claim their largest lead of the contest, 30-15, with less than three minutes left in the half and held a 37-23 halftime advantage.
Second Half
With AU still trailing by 14 points less than three minutes into the second half, Howard posted a traditional three-point play that sparked a 13-5 outburst over the next three minutes that trimmed the Eagles' lead to just 48-42. Junior forward Luke Musselwhite added five points during the run and capped it off with a 3-pointer from deep in the right corner.
Following a trey from Carson-Newman junior Charles Clark and a free throw from teammate Shaun Jones that saw the Eagles reclaim a 10-point edge, the Trojans refused to go away quietly. Howard again posted a traditional three-point play that triggered a 20-9 run that saw AU take its first lead of the game, at 62-61, with less than five minutes on the clock.
After Howard's three-point play, Clark notched three for the Eagles, but Howard countered with back-to back baskets and found Dotson open for an easy lay-up and followed with another free throw that brought AU within 55-52. The Eagles reopened a 59-52 lead before Musselwhite dropped in a jumper and C-N's Sawyer Williams answered with a layup on the other end. Boynton connected on a 3-pointer from in front of the AU bench and Davis knotted the score at 59 apiece, with Dotson hitting one-of-two from the line to give the Trojans the brief one-point edge.
The score was knotted three more times over the next four minutes, but the Trojans were unable to wrestle the lead away. Freshman Cameron Holmes connected on a free throw to give C-N a 71-67 advantage, with Davis draining a 3-pointer from the right wing to pull AU within 71-70 with 13.6 seconds left. The Trojans sent Clark to the line and the Murfreesboro, Tenn., native sank both free throws with 4.1 ticks on the clock and AU was unable to get off a game-tying shot in the final moments.
ANDERSON STAT OF THE NIGHT
The Trojans won the rebounding battle by eight and pulled down 14 offensive rebounds.
NOTABLES
• Junior guard Maurice Howard saw his streak of 15 consecutive made free throws snapped with 6:36 left in the first half.
• The Trojans have dished out double-figure assists in 10 of their last 12 games.
• After connecting on just two 3-pointers in the first half, the Trojans nailed five treys in the final 20 minutes.
UP NEXT
The Trojans go on the road for a brief one-game road swing by traveling to Catawba on Saturday. The Indians edged AU, 72-71, in mid-December at the Abney Athletic Center. Tip-off in Salisbury, N.C., is set for 4 p.m.
