HICKORY, N.C. - The #7 ranked Anderson Trojans came into a raucous Shuford Arena on Wednesday and took down the #15 Lenoir-Rhyne Bears 102-96. This was Lenoir-Rhyne's first home loss of the season.
Akili Evans led the team with 20 points while
Conrad Luczynski and
Tyler Burraston each had 16.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: #7 Anderson 102, #15 Lenoir-Rhyne 96
Records: Anderson (16-1, 10-1 SAC), Lenoir-Rhyne (15-4, 9-2 SAC)
Location: Hickory, N.C. | Shuford Arena
STORY OF THE GAME:
- Anderson put their stamp on this one early, going up 11-2 after just three minutes of play.
- Threes from Junior Hodnett and Tyler Burraston kept Lenoir-Rhyne in it before a highlight dunk from Akili Evans gave them a 13-12 lead.
- The Trojans answered with a 15-4 run to go up 10 midway through the half.
- Six straight points from Blessin Kimble cut the lead to five, but Anderson hit multiple big shots to go into halftime leading 46-37.
- The Bears clawed their way back, and an and-1 from Sam Martin at the 15:39 mark of the second half cut the lead to six.
- As they did all night, Anderson answered, hitting a three on their next possession to spark a 7-0 run.
- Lenoir-Rhyne saw themselves down by as many as 16 in the second half but clawed back to cut it to 100-96 with 16 seconds left.
- Anderson hit their free throws late to close out the game.
STATS OF THE GAME:
- Akili Evans led the Bears with 20 points, followed by Conrad Luczynski (16), Tyler Burraston (16), Blessin Kimble (12), and Sam Martin (10).
- Martin led the team with three blocks while Junior Hodnett finished with three steals.
- Luczynski's seven boards were tops on the team.
- Lenoir-Rhyne was 33-65 (50.8%) from the field and 9-23 (39.1%) from three.
- Anderson was 39-73 (53.4%) from the field and 11-30 (36.7%) from three.
- The Trojans led in paint points (54-44) and second chance points (22-15).
- Lenoir-Rhyne's bench played well tonight, outscoring their counterparts 36-22.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
- Anderson holds a 19-13 lead in all-time series.
- This was the fifth straight game in the series to be decided by single-digits.
- The Bears and Trojans were the only SAC schools ranked in the NABC Top-25 this week.
- Anderson still holds the top spot in the conference standings, followed by Lenoir-Rhyne, Catawba, UVA Wise, and Lincoln Memorial.
UP NEXT: The Bears will now play their next game on Friday due to possible weather this weekend. Their next contest will be against Lincoln Memorial, who sit at 11-6 (7-4 SAC) and defeated UVA Wise 83-81 earlier tonight. These teams met once earlier this season, an 83-71 win for the Bears. Tip-off is scehduled for Friday at 5:00 p.m.