Winning is just a little bit easier when you work as a team to rack up 12 more assists than your opponent, a fact the Daniel Lions proved on Friday. They came out on top against Union County by a score of 62-49. Given Daniel's advantage in MaxPreps' South Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 72nd, while Union County is ranked 208th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Hayden Anderson, who scored 17 points along with six steals and five rebounds. Those six steals set a new season-high mark for him. The team also got some help courtesy of Tristyn Carrington, who scored 12 points along with seven assists and three steals.
Despite the loss, Union County saw an underclassman step up: Eric Gray scored 14 points. AJ Shaw was another key contributor, scoring six points.
Union County struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only two offensive rebounds. That's the fewest offensive rebounds they've managed all season.
Daniel has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six matches, which provided a nice bump to their 8-3 record this season. As for Union County, their loss was their fourth straight on the road, which bumped their record down to 5-10.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Daniel will wrap up 2023 with a road trip to face off against Boyd County on Thursday. Boyd County has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 768 points over their last nine matchups. Union County will get a bit of extra time to process the loss as their next game is a ways off. They'll take on Spartanburg at 7:30 p.m. on January 3rd. One thing working in Spartanburg's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last five games.
