Hickory, N.C. - The Lenoir-Rhyne Men's Basketball Team (10-3, 3-2) handed Catawba (4-9, 1-4) a 57-51 defeat Wednesday in a South Atlantic Conference contest and gave 27th-year mentor John Lentz his 400th win as Bears Head Coach at Shuford Gymnasium.

L-R sophomore guard Denzel Dillingham (Hickory, N.C.), the team's leading scorer, finished with a game-high 21 points to go along with nine rebounds while freshman forward Rob Noyes (Morganton, N.C.) added 12 points off the bench in the win.

Catawba, which lost its second straight game, received a double-double from Tyrece Little (Greenville, N.C.).? Little finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.

Lenoir-Rhyne held a slim 27-25 lead at halftime and the contest stayed close throughout with four ties and 11 lead changes.

A jump shot by junior guard R.J. McClure (Canton, N.C.) gave L-R the lead for good at 50-49 with 3:07 remaining in the contest.

Dillingham followed with a three-pointer, his third of the contest, and the Indians couldn't get within two points the rest of the way as the Bears held on for the win.

McClure finished with 10 points while junior guard Jarvis Perry (Willingboro, N.J.) dished out a game-high 10 assists for Lenoir-Rhyne, who improved to 4-0 at home this year.

Catawba's Lee Martin (Mount Airy, N.C.) added 13 points and eight rebounds but the Indians were held to just 37 percent shooting (20-of-54) for the game.? Catawba also hit just seven of 28 three-point attempts.

In the next round of South Atlantic Conference games on Saturday, Lenoir-Rhyne hosts Lincoln Memorial at 6:00 p.m., while Catawba visits Newberry for a 4:00 p.m. tip-off.

Lenoir-Rhyne Director of Athletics Neill McGeachy hands Head Men's Basketball Coach John Lentz a commemorative basketball for winning his 400th game as Bear mentor.?? Photo by the Hickory Daily Record.