Trojans' strong second half downs Lions at home

MARS HILL, N.C. - The Mars Hill men's basketball team (7-7, 5-3 SAC) was defeated by a score of 84-77 versus Anderson (8-6, 3-5 SAC) Saturday afternoon.

Anderson's dominant second half propelled them to victory over the Lions to pick up their eighth win of the season.  The Trojan's hit over 60 percent of their shots and drained seven of their 13 three-pointers to outscore Mars Hill 51-40 in the final 20 minutes of play.

The Lions held a 37-33 lead after the first half and built their lead to 43-38 with under 17 minutes to play.  A Trojans' 12-0 run provided them their first lead of the second half, going up by seven with just over 15 minutes to play.

With over nine minutes left in the contest, Anderson built their lead to double-digits off of a Mason Carver layup.  Mars Hill continued to claw their way back into the game, pulling within five points on numerous occasions, but the Anderson squad was led by the stellar offensive performance of Shawn Bernard down the stretch as he led the Trojans with 14 points in the second half.

Anderson led for a majority of the first half, leading by as many as nine on three separate occasions.  The Lions, trailing 26-23 with 6:09 left in the first half, tied the game off of Ja'Shawn Brooks' three-pointer.  On the following Mars Hill possession, Javonte Cooke converted on a three-point play, hitting the layup and proceeding foul shot, to give Mars Hill their first lead of the half.  The Lions added five more points after to complete an 11-0 run.

Brooks led all players with 25 points and led the Lions with seven rebounds.  Cooke added 11 points and five rebounds from the bench.  Jamal Bryant chipped in with 10 points.  Bernard led the Trojans with 22 points followed by Quin Nottingham's 21 on the day.  The two combined for seven of the Trojans' 12 made three-pointers.

The Lions return to action on Wednesday, January 15 when they take on Lincoln Memorial.  Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.