Men’s Basketball Falls to Anderson

Box score

MARS HILL, N.C. - The Lions' men's basketball team lost to Anderson University 84-66 Saturday afternoon in Stanford Arena. Mars Hill celebrated senior day. Khouraichi Thiam was recognized before the game as the Lions' only senior player.

Thiam capped off his career as a Lion recording his 17th double-double of the season. He scored 22 points and had a game high 15 rebounds in the loss. For the season, Thiam averaged 13.8 points, 12.1 rebounds, 2.2 blocks and played 34.3 minutes per game competing in 24 contests. He is second in the nation in NCAA Division II in rebounds per game. He is fifth in the country in double-doubles.

Carter Wright and Myles Tate followed Thiam scoring 14 and 13 points in the loss, respectively. Tate added four assists and two steals.

Chandler Hash led Anderson with 24 points followed by Myson Jones with 22. Bo Holston scored 18 points and pulled down 10 boards. Kyle Sledge added 10 points and nine rebounds. The Trojans out rebounded the Lions, 41-30.

Jones hit a 3-pointer with 19:23 left in the first half to give Anderson a 3-2 lead they would never relinquish. The Trojans went on a 19-8 run over the next 11 minutes to take a 15-point (27-12) advantage after Hash hit a shot from behind the arc with 8:19 left in the opening period. Anderson's largest lead in the first frame was 17 points (38-19) after Hash nailed another 3-pointer with 3:43 left in the half. The Trojans took a 13-point lead (39-26) lead into the locker room at the intermission.

Anderson maintained a double-digit lead for the first 12 minutes of the second half. A dunk by Thiam at the 7:35 mark cut the Lions' deficit to nine points (63-54) but that was as close as MHC would get. The Trojans answered going on a 15-2 run over the next five minutes to enjoy their largest lead of the contest (22 points) after Jones connected on a pair of free throws with 2:37 left in regulation to give Anderson a 78-56 advantage. The Trojans cruised down the stretch to the 84-66 victory.

The Lions end the 2012-13 campaign, 4-22 overall and 1-17 in the SAC. Anderson improved to 18-8 overall and 14-4 in the league. The Trojans will await the SAC basketball tournament pairings to be released on Sunday.