Men’s Basketball Loses at Anderson

ANDERSON, S.C. - Mars Hill's men's basketball team lost on the road at Anderson University, 86-64 Saturday evening in the Abney Athletic Center. Khouraichi Thiam posted his eleventh double-double of the season in scoring and rebounding in the loss.

The Lions fell to 3-15 overall and 0-10 in the SAC. The Trojans improved to 12-6 on the season, 8-2 in the league.

Thiam scored 23 points and pulled down 15 rebounds in the contest. He added a couple of blocks, was perfect at the charity stripe (5-5) and shot over 50% (9-16) from the floor. Kacey Holt was the only other Lion in double figures with 10 points.

Anderson had four players in double figures. Denzail Jones led the Trojans with 21 points followed by Chandler Hash and Myson Jones who added 16 points apiece. Chris Ross came off the bench to post 10 points in the win. Anderson shots 51.7% (31-60) from the floor in the game and received 40 points from their bench.

In the first half, Anderson jumped out to a 12-point lead (14-2) with 15:03 left in the opening period after Denzail Jones hit a shot in the lane. The Lions cut the Trojans lead to eight points (14-6) with 12:19 on the clock after Thiam put in an offensive board. Anderson quickly went ahead 17 points (24-7) on a Chris Ross jumper with 8:53 left in the first frame. MHC trimmed the deficit to nine points on two occasions in the final five minutes of the period but Anderson went on a 9-2 run to enjoy a 38-22 lead at halftime.

The second half belonged to Anderson. MHC cut the Trojans' lead to 12 points twice but that was as close as the Lions would get. Anderson led by as many as 31 points (82-51) after Dillon Bender hit a shot from behind the arc. The Trojans would go on to win by 22 points (86-84).

The Lions will play at Lincoln Memorial University on Wednesday, February 6. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m.