ANDERSON, S.C. --- Senior Trenton Gibson connected on a pair of free throws with 4.9 seconds left in the game to lead the Tusculum University men's basketball team to a 60-59 South Atlantic Conference win at Anderson University Wednesday night at the Abney Athletic Center.
Tusculum freshman forward Inady Legiste had the game of his young collegiate career, while playing with a heavy heart. Earlier on Wednesday, Inady learned of the passing of his oldest sister Cassandra, but asked that he be allowed to play. He responded with his first collegiate double-double with season-bests of 20 points and 12 rebounds as Tusculum improved to 7-4 overall (7-4 SAC).
Legiste led a ferocious rebounding effort for the visitors as the Pioneers out-boarded the Trojans by a 52-26 margin. Legiste accounted for 10 of his team's 28 offensive rebounds resulting in a 29-1 domination in second-chance point production for the Pioneers.
Tusculum shot a season-worst 31.1 percent from the floor, including just 2-of-21 from three-point territory (9.5%). Anderson (1-4, 1-4 SAC) showed its rust playing in only its fifth game of the season and first since Jan. 9, as the Trojans shot 16-of-45 from the floor, but did got 5-of-11 from three-point land. The bulk of AU's offense came from the free throw line shooting a sizzling 22-of-26 at the line (84.6%).
Legiste finished the game shooting 8-of-13 from the floor in his 24 minutes off the bench. Gibson tallied 14 markers, eight rebounds and went 9-of-11 from the free throw line. Keaston Brown had eight points and three assists, while Justin Mitchell tallied five points, seven rebounds and a team-best three steals as TU posted its fourth win in a row over the Trojans.
"I'm proud so of our team in how hard we battled, but I'm especially proud of Inady," said TU head coach JT Burton. "We learned his sister passed away earlier today due to COVID and he said he wanted to play for the team, but more importantly for her. Basketball is just a game and this pandemic has put so many things into perspective. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Inady and the entire Legiste family."
Anderson Josh Livingston tallied a team-high 16 points as he went 4-of-6 from the floor, 3-of-3 from beyond the arc and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. Tyler Henderson added 13 points while shooting 8-of-8 from the foul line. He also finished with four assists and five boards. Kai Rivers added a dozen points and Crosby James II had seven points and five rebounds in the loss.
The Trojans took an early 13-10 lead on a layup by Kai Rivers in the first half. Tusculum responded with a 13-1 run over the six-minute span to take a 23-14 lead on a Legiste layup at the 7:17 mark of the opening period.
Anderson answered with a 15-6 spurt of its own to knot the game for a third time at 29-29 with just under four minutes left before halftime. TU pushed the lead back to four (33-29) after a pair of free throws from Gibson with 2:45 on the clock. Mack Burgett brought AU to within two with his jumper in the paint but Legiste answered with a layup to give him nine points in the period as a 35-31 advantage. Both teams would go ice cold from the floor for the rest of the half as Anderson scored three points from the free throw line down the stretch to trim the deficit to one (35-34) at the intermission.
Tusculum got a three-pointer from Joshua Scott to open the second half, but Anderson went on a 9-2 run over the next two minutes thanks to five points from James and a Rivers' layup as the Trojans led 43-40 with 17:35 remaining in the game.
Over the next six minutes, Tusculum accounted for the only offense as the visitors got a Gibson layup, and layup and dunk from Legiste as the Pioneers regained the lead at 46-43 with 15:04 left. But the two teams would go scoreless until the 11:48 mark as Henderson tied the game at 46-46 with his three-pointer.
Legiste regained the lead for the Pioneers with his three-point play off an offensive rebound and put-back with 11:17 left and a 49-46 TU advantage. After a turnover by Anderson, TU got three looks on its next possession with Legiste once again coming through with a layup as the Pioneers extended their lead to 51-46 with 10:07 remaining. TU could not extend its advantage any further as the Pioneers would go without a field goal for the final six minutes missing their last six shots.
After two Gibson free throws with 5:10 left for a 55-52 Tusculum lead, the Trojans got a Rivers jumper and Livingston buried a three-pointer with 3:01 on the clock to give Anderson a 57-55 lead.
Tusculum got off a Brown three-point try, but TU came up with the rebound as Legiste would later be fouled with 2:16 on the scoreboard. He made the first free throw to cut the deficit in half at 57-56, but missed the second, but was able to muscle away the rebound. Gibson's three-point try was off target, but Legiste came down with his 10th offensive board of the night and was again fouled with 2:06 left. He would miss his first free throw try, but made the second to tie the game at 57-57.
Livingston would draw a foul and he made his two free throws with 1:41 remaining as Anderson led 59-57. Justin Mitchell was fouled and the sophomore would go 1-of-2 at the line as TU called a timeout with 1:23 remaining.
The Trojans worked the clock down but James missed a layup and Justin Mitchell came up with the huge rebound with just under a minute remaining. Brandon Mitchell would miss his shot attempt in the paint, but came down with the rebound as the Pioneers called a timeout. Down by one, Legiste missed his jumper and Anderson came down with the rebound, but AU committed the turnover with 26 seconds left as the Pioneers called its final timeout.
Tusculum worked for the last shot but Gibson was fouled with 4.9 seconds left. Gibson made the first free throw to tie the game. After an Anderson timeout, Gibson made the second to give Tusculum a one-point lead. After another timeout by Anderson, the Trojans came up the floor, but never got off a shot turning the ball over with 0.8 seconds to go. TU in-bounded the basketball to end the game and post its second straight win in the Electric City.
Tusculum finished the game with 14 turnovers, while Anderson committed 12 miscues. TU owned a 32-18 advantage in points in the paint and a 29-6 lead in bench scoring.
The Pioneers will wrap up their season-long four-game road swing on Saturday as they travel to Hickory, North Carolina to face Lenoir-Rhyne University for a 4:30 p.m. contest at Shuford Memorial Gym. Following the L-R game, the Pioneers are slated to play six of their final eight games at home.
