ANDERSON, S.C. — Sam Perez scored 24 points to lead the Anderson University men’s basketball team to an 83-70 South Atlantic Conference win over visiting Tusculum University Saturday afternoon at the Abney Athletic Center.
The Trojans (10-5, 6-5 SAC) snap a nine-game losing streak to the Pioneers (3-12, 3-8 SAC) and record their first home win over TU in five years.
Anderson, winners of five in a row, overcame a 10-point deficit in the first half, scoring 11 in a row as part of a 15-4 run to close out the opening period and take a 37-35 lead into the locker room.
Perez went 9-of-12 from the floor including 6-of-9 from three-point territory as the Trojans shot 56 percent from the floor including 11 three-pointers.
Tusculum sophomore Bryce Jackson scored 19 points to lead the Pioneers while freshmen twin duo of Taj and Denaj Kimber finished with 15 and 11 points, respectively. Junior Malachi Hale added 11 points, while Akeem Odupsipe finished with nine points and a game-high nine rebounds in the loss.
Anderson also got 17 points from Austin Webb, 14 markers from Cole Middleton and Sentinel Moore shot a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor for his 10 points.
The Pioneers connected on seven of its first eight 3-pointers to take a 31-21 with 6:24 left in the first half. TU used a 13-3 run to take the lead thanks to triples from Hale, Taj Kimber and Jackson. Jackson capped off the spurt with a three-point play.
But the Trojans answered with an 11-0 run and took the lead on Middleton’s layup with three minutes to go in the period.
Trailing 37-35, Jackson opened the second half with a layup to tie the game. But a 15-3 run by the Trojans was capped off by a Middleton three-pointer as Anderson led 52-40 with 14:07 remaining.
Tusculum responded with a 10-4 spurt over the next 2:20 as the Pioneers connected on five straight field goals including a layup from Hale as TU trailed 56-50 with 11:16 on the clock.
AU pushed the lead back out to double digits as to 61-50 following a Middleton jumper and a three-point play from Andre Wright with 10 minutes left.
Taj Kimber was responsible for a 5-0 run including his third three-pointer of the game to trim the deficit to 61-55 with 9:02 remaining. Moore answered with back-to-back field goals of his own including a tip-in as Anderson led by 10 again at 65-55 with 7:44 to go.
The Trojans led 67-57 with six minutes left, but Odusipe converted a three-point play as the Pioneers were behind 67-60 with 5:41 on the scoreboard.
But three-pointers from Perez and Webb increased the Anderson lead to 73-60 with 4:13 left.
Later, TU went on a 10-5 run over the next 2:39, making four straight field goals including a 3-pointer from Jackson and Denaj Kimber to cut the deficit to eight (78-70) with 1:34 remaining. But that would be as close as TU would get as Anderson scored the final five points of the game to seal the victory.
Tusculum finished the game shooting 39.7 percent but did shoot 10-of-18 from three-point territory. Anderson out-rebounded the Pioneers by a 38-33 margin and out-scored Tusculum 36-20 in the paint.
Tusculum will look to snap a seven-game losing streak on Wednesday as TU hosts nationally-ranked Lincoln Memorial University for a 7:30 p.m. contest. LMU defeated the Pioneers 78-62 last month in Harrogate.
