Greenwood, S.C. - The Lenoir-Rhyne Men's Basketball Team (7-2) fell to Georgia College (5-3), 75-71, Friday evening on the first day of the Bearcat Holiday Classic at Horne Arena.
The Bobcats' Nate Hamilton (Snellville, Ga.) came off the bench to lead all scorers with 21 points while Scott Ferguson (Roswell, Ga.) added 13 points and 10 rebounds en route to the win.
L-R junior center Matt Kunz (Kernersville, N.C.) finished with a team-high 19 points and was one of four players to score in double figures for the Bears despite the loss.
Sophomore guard Denzel Dillingham (Hickory, N.C.) and junior guard Jarvis Perry (Willingboro, N.J.) added 12 points each for the Bears, who saw their three-game winning streak come to an end.
The Bears held a 12-point lead in the first half and went into intermission with a 33-28 advantage over the Bobcats.
L-R extended its lead to as many as nine points in the second half at 49-40 with 11:55 remaining on a jump shot by junior guard R.J. McClure (Canton, N.C.) before Georgia College began to rally.
With the score tied at 67 with 2:37 left in the contest, Hamilton sank three free throws to give Georgia College the lead for good and the Bobcats were able to hold on for the victory.
McClure finished with 10 points including two treys?to go along with?a team-high seven rebounds but Georgia College shot 67 percent (14-of-21) in the second half in its comeback win.
On the final day of the tournament on Saturday, Lenoir-Rhyne takes on Lander, the host school, at 3:30 p.m., while Georgia College faces Southern Wesleyan at 1:30 p.m.