Hickory, N.C. ? The Lenoir-Rhyne University Men?s Basketball Team (2-4, 1-0) opened South Atlantic Conference play with a 95-77 win over Catawba College (4-3, 0-1) Wednesday night at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium. L-R junior forward D.J. Blackmon (Albemarle, N.C.) led the way with a game-high 28 points and 13 rebounds as the Bears snapped a four-game losing streak.

Catawba?s Rob Fields (Orangeburg, S.C.) and Antonio Houston (Charlotte, N.C.) each scored 21 points despite the setback.

Lenoir-Rhyne built a 45-36 halftime lead before Catawba cut the advantage to three on a trey by Houston to make it 47-44 with 18:04 left.

The Indians stayed close for awhile before the Bears broke the contest open with a 20-5 run to build its largest lead of the game at 20 points (82-62) on a lay-up by sophomore forward Jeff Thomas (Durham, N.C.) with 6:52 remaining.

Senior guard Marcus Hodges (Wake Forest, N.C.) added 15 points while Thomas finished with 11 as the Bears shot 60 percent (38-of-63) from the field including eight-for-12 (67 percent) from three-point land.

Lenoir-Rhyne faces Barton on Tuesday, December 8, in Wilson, N.C., at 7:30 p.m., while Catawba plays Chowan on Saturday in Charlotte, N.C., on 2:30 p.m.