Greenwood, S.C. - The Georgia Southwestern Men's Basketball Team (5-2) held off a late rally to defeat Lenoir-Rhyne University (2-7), 63-60, Wednesday afternoon at the?second annual Bearcat Holiday Classic?at Horne Arena.

Talmadge Bell (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Phillip Brown (Jonesboro, Ga.) led the Hurricanes with 18 and 16 points, respectively.? Bell also hit five of Georgia Southwestern's 10 three-pointers for the game as the Hurricanes picked up their second straight win.

Freshman guard Allan Jones (Clemmons, N.C) led Lenoir-Rhyne with a team-high 17 points while junior forward Jeff Thomas (Chapel Hill, N.C.) added 15 points in the losing effort.

The Hurricanes hit seven three-pointers in the first half en route to a 28-26 lead entering the break.

A lay-up by Thomas gave Lenoir-Rhyne its only advantage of the contest at 32-30 with 18:14 left but Bell responded with a trey to give Georgia Southwestern the lead for good.

The Bears would rally from a nine-point deficit (53-44 with 6:28 left) to cut the margin to two (62-60) on a three-pointer by junior guard Jon Hathcock (Concord, N.C.) with nine seconds left but the Hurricanes were able to hold on.

A desperation three-point attempt by Lenoir-Rhyne as time expired which would have forced overtime fell short.

L-R junior guard Kevin Davis (Charlotte, N.C.) added 12 points including three treys to go along with five assists despite the loss.

Lenoir-Rhyne takes on the host school of the tournament, Lander, Thursday at 3:30 p.m.? Meanwhile, Georgia Southwestern plays Hiwassee College Thursday at 1:30 p.m.