Men’s Basketball: Pioneers Drop 73-64 Loss to Anderson in Home Finale
Chase Mounce becomes program's single-season blocked shots leader
The Anderson University men’s basketball team used a 14-2 run in the second half as the Trojans outlasted host Tusculum College 73-64 in South Atlantic Conference action on a snowy Wednesday night at Pioneer Arena.
The Trojans (14-13, 10-11 SAC) sweep the season series over the Pioneers (7-20, 6-15 SAC) and snap TC’s three-game winning streak.
It was an interesting week for the Black & Orange who played four games in a five-day span and posted an impressive 3-1 record since Saturday.
Tusculum’s Chase Mounce led all scorers with 24 points, shooting 7-of-12 from the field and 10-of-12 at the free throw line. He also blocked four shots, giving him 57 on the year, establishing a new school single-season record, breaking the previous mark held by Santana Waldon, who posted 54 rejections during the 1990-91 campaign.
Zach Davis contributed 11 points off the bench, while Cory Fagan tallied 10 markers in the loss. Matt Shown posted eight points and a game-high 11 boards for the league’s top-rebounder, who is averaging 9.0 rebounds per contest.
Senior Mason Fox, who was playing in his final game at Pioneer Arena, finished with five points and a game-high seven assists for the Crossville, Tennessee native.
Anderson’s Nick Jackson and Myson Jones led the Trojans with 17 points each, while Chris Ross added 11 points in AU’s 11th consecutive win over the Pioneers. Jackson shot 6-of-12 from the floor, including 5-of-10 from three-point territory. Matt McClain finished with six points and a team-best 10 rebounds for the visitors.
Tusculum was 3-for-4 in the early moments and used a pair of three-pointers to gain a quick 8-2 lead inside the first two minutes of the contest. With the Trojans struggling to connect from the field, Tusculum claimed its largest lead of the game, at 13-4 with 15:52 on the clock as AU hit just two of its first six attempts. Meanwhile, the Pioneers were hitting on a 5-of-8 clip on the home hardwood.
With Mounce and Shown combining for nine early points for Tusculum, the Pioneers still held a 17-9 lead with less than 14 minutes left in the first half. But the Trojans quickly closed the gap, as Ross was fouled while tipping in a Jones’ miss and knocked down the free throw to complete the three-point play and Jackson followed with a 3-pointer from downtown to pace a 15-8 run by the Trojans.
Maurice Howard’s lone trey of the night knotted the score for the first time, at 22-22, midway through the first half and Rakish Taylor’s jumper at the 8:18 mark gave Anderson a 24-22 lead.
The Pioneers responded with an 11-4 outburst to claim a five-point advantage with exactly four minutes left in the first half, but the Trojan defense held Tusculum without a field goal over the remainder of the half. Jones scored 11 of his 13 first-half points over the final 3:42 of the frame, as the Trojans carried a 39-37 lead to the locker room.
The first eight minutes of the second half featured four ties and four lead changes, with neither team able to build more than a four-point lead. After Mounce dropped in a pair of free throws to give Tusculum a 52-50 edge with less than 13 minutes left in the contest.
Jackson answered by nailing a 3-pointer to give the Trojans a lead they would not surrender. Three minutes later, his fourth trey of the night boosted AU’s advantage to 60-54 with 9:02 on the clock and Alani Adekambi’s first basket of the game capped a 16-4 run by Anderson resulting in AU’s first double-digit lead at 64-54.
The Trojans built an 11-point margin with more than two minutes remaining and withstood the Pioneers’ challenge in the closing moments.
The Trojans forced 13 turnovers, converting the Tusculum miscues into 14 points. Anderson committed only five turnovers on the evening.
After shooting 52 percent in the opening half, the Pioneers were limited to 36.4 percent shooting in the second period. TC finished the game gunning 44.7 percent from the floor, while Anderson connected on 42 percent of its shots, while draining nine 3-pointers.
Tusculum will close out its season on Saturday as the Pioneers travel to Hartsville, South Carolina for a 4 p.m. contest at Coker College.
