Friday, December 2, 2016

SAU Men's Basketball Outlasts Alderson Broaddus For Second Straight Win

Anthony Gaskins Scores 24 Points Including Key Layup In Final Seconds

PHILIPPI, West Virginia -- On Thursday, Anthony Gaskins (Sr./Greenville, NC) scored a game-high 24 points including the game-clinching layup as Saint Augustine's University held off Alderson Broaddus University 71-66 at Rex Pyles Arena in Philippi, W.Va. for its second straight men's basketball victory.

After the Battlers whittled a 12-point deficit to two on a three-pointer with 42 seconds remaining, Gaskins scored on a driving layup with 13 seconds left to push the Falcons lead to 70-66. He added a free throw with one second left after a steal by Quincy January (Jr./Atlanta, GA) sealed the contest.

Gaskins heroics stopped a late run by the Battlers, who trailed 67-55 with 4:44 remaining in the contest. With the victory, the Falcons (4-4 overall) posted their first two-game winning streak of the season.

The outcome was in doubt around the 8:30 mark of the second half when the score was tied 53-53, but the Falcons used a 14-2 run to push ahead 67-55. Kenneth Collins (Jr./Clayton, NC) keyed the surge by scoring seven of his 15 points during the spurt. Though the Battlers (1-6 overall) came back, the cushion was enough for the Falcons to prevail.

The Falcons outscored the Battlers 41-32 in the second half to wipe out a four-point halftime deficit. January played a huge role in the second-half resurgence, scoring 14 of his 15 points in the second stanza after playing only three minutes in the first half after picking up two fouls in the first 44 seconds of the game.

With January out the game, Gaskins carried the Falcons in the first half, scoring 18 points as the Falcons went into halftime behind 34-30. With both Gaskins and January playing the bulk of the second half, the Falcons quickly took the lead at 38-37 on January's three-point play with 17:31 on the clock and never fell behind again.

Craig McDaniel (So./Holly Springs, NC) added eight points for the Falcons, who shot 51.9 percent including 6 of 9 three-point attempts for 66.7 percent as Gaskins and Collins were both 3 of 4 behind the arc. Behind January and Gaskins, the Falcons outscored the Battlers 42-32 in the paint.

Dorrell Foster scored 14 points to lead five double-figure scorers for the Battlers, who shot 55.8 percent from the floor but made only 3 of 15 three-point attempts for 20 percent.

The Falcons will visit Davis & Elkins College on the second leg of their West Virginia trip on Saturday, Dec. 3 in Elkins, W.Va. starting at 2 p.m.

BOX SCORE

SAINT AUGUSTINE'S UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

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