Hickory, N.C. - The Mars Hill College Men's Basketball Team (2-4, 1-0) jumped out to a 16-point lead then rallied to defeat Lenoir-Rhyne (1-4, 0-1), 77-74, in the South Atlantic Conference opener Wednesday night at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium.

Mars Hill's Sammy Emile (Lake Worth, Fla.) led the way with 21 points while Cody King (Enka, N.C.) and Terrell Harris (Indiantown, Fla.) added 15 and 14 points, respectively, for the Lions in the conference road victory.

L-R freshman guard Denzel Dillingham (Hickory, N.C.) finished with 21 points off the bench and junior forward B.J. Beasley (Charlotte, N.C.) added 17 points including 13 in the second half despite the loss.

Mars Hill jumped out to a 35-19 lead on a?three-point play?by Harris with 2:19?remaining until halftime for its biggest advantage of the game before Lenoir-Rhyne began to rally.

L-R found itself down by a 70-60 score with 4:27 remaining in the game but reeled off 12 straight points capped off by a three-pointer by Dillingham and a lay-up by senior guard Kevin Davis (Charlotte, N.C.) gave the Bears a 74-72 advantage with 1:15 on the clock.

King then scored the final five points, including the game-winning three-pointer, to lift the Lions to the win.

Davis nearly tallied a triple-double - seven points, eight rebounds and nine assists - while senior forward Jeff Thomas (Chapel Hill, N.C.) scored all 14 of his points in the second half for the Bears in the setback.

Both teams return to South Atlantic Conference action on Saturday on the road beginning at 4 p.m.? Lenoir-Rhyne is at Newberry while Mars Hill pays a visit to Anderson.