AUGUSTA, Ga. - Brandon Young hit a three-pointer from the right corner with two seconds left to lead fifth-seeded Anderson University to its first ever NCAA Tournament victory with a 68-66 win over fourth-seeded Catawba in the quarterfinals of the 2010 NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Southeast Regional at Christenberry Fieldhouse.

The Trojans did not lead in the contest until the final 36 seconds of the game, but nevertheless were able to procure the victory behind a second half performance that saw Anderson outscore Catawba 44-28 in the second half.

The Trojans advance to the semifinal round of the 2010 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional where they will square off against top-seeded Augusta State at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 14 at Christenberry Fieldhouse.

Anderson improves to 24-7 on the year with its victory, while Catawba concludes its 2009-10 campaign with a record of 20-11.

Catawba opened things in the contest by scoring the first nine points over the course of the first 1:59 of the first half to own a 9-0 lead with 18:01 remaining in the first half. The Indians would finally get on the scoreboard with a Kevis Cornwell jumper at the 17:41 mark of the first half.

The Indians would continue to control the action for the rest of the first half, going up by as many as 15 points at 36-21 with 2:44 until intermission. The Trojans would cut their deficit to 12 in the final two minutes, but Catawba’s Donald Rutherford hit a driving lay-up on the right side with four seconds left in the half to give the Indians a 14-point 38-24 lead at halftime.

The Indians finished the first half shooting 50 percent (16-for-32) as a team. The Trojans in turn connected upon 35.7 (10-for-28) of their shots in the first half of action.

Anderson opened the second half to the tune of 17-3 run that placed them just five behind the Indians at 46-41 with 12:51 left in the second half.

Catawba would control most of the action in the contest over the course of the next nine minutes, but the pesky Trojans had pulled themselves to within four at 63-59 with just

under three minutes to play after a lay-up by Cornwell. A little while later the Indian lead was just two at 63-51 after two Trey Britton free throws.

The Trojans fouled Fields on Catawba’s next offensive possession. Fields knocked down one of two free throws to set the score at 64-61 in the Indians’ favor. Cornwell continued to exert himself on Anderson’s next offensive possession by taking it to the rack for a deuce that most importantly placed the Trojans behind just one at 64-63 with a little over a minute left in the contest.

Catawba was unable to convert their next time down the floor. Anderson took advantage with Britton getting fouled by Fields in the act of corralling a Tony Anderson three-point miss. Britton promptly hit both free throws to garner the Trojans their first lead of the game at 65-64 with 36 seconds left in the contest.

Catawba’s Dominick Reid hit a jumper on their next offensive possession to obtain the lead back for the Indians at 66-65 with 19 seconds left on the game clock. Young then hit a three-pointer from the right corner on a kick out from Anderson with two seconds left to acquire the thrilling 68-66 victory for the Trojans.

Cornwell and Young led the Trojans in the come-from-behind victory over the Indians. Both had 19 in the game.

Britton was the final Anderson player in double figures. He ended his evening by just missing on a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds.

Four Catawba players finished in double digits with Rutherford (17), Fields (15), Stephen Coles (12) and Antonio Houston (12) all collecting double figures.

Anderson as a team shot 43.3 percent (26-for-60) from the field in the game, while the Indians were 26-for-59 (44.1 percent) from the floor as a team in the contest.

In their second half comeback, Anderson shot 50 percent (16-for-32), while holding the Indians to 37 percent (10-for-27) shooting in the second stanza. (Box Score)

QUOTES

Anderson Head Coach Jason Taylor
“Wish it wouldn’t have taken us that long to make it competitive, Catawba is so good so talented, but our second half defense picked us up. We just stayed together, we have come back from deficits like that before, and we just never gave up.”

(On the last play): “The plan was to get a great shot, we attacked the lane several times and got several touched, but we were not going to pass up an open three, and Brandon has a knack for making those shots.”

(On playing Augusta State): “They are great, Dip (Metress) gave me some advice when I first started coaching, and I’m glad we are both here, they are going to compete, battle on the glass, they have the best scoring history and great role players.”

Catawba’s Jim Baker
“I thought it was a good game, we played really well, but Anderson played well at the last stretch. They kept clipping away at us, I’m proud of my four seniors; they’re down there balling their eyes out, but you know, that’s life, I just wish we could have found a way to come out on top.”

(On the final shot attempt): “We won a couple games where we just fly off, but I don’t know what happened, we were right there, the kid had a tough shot, but we had a good year, we’ve lost six games exactly like this one.”

(On the program’s recent success): “We have been to four straight NCAA tournaments, not bad for little Catawba. We played well last year, but it has been tough, it is always our goal to get into the tournament.”