Salisbury, N.C. – The Lenoir-Rhyne Men's Lacrosse Team (10-4, 8-0) won the 2016 South Atlantic Conference Regular Season Championship with a 12-7 win over Catawba (5-9, 3-5) Saturday evening in the regular season finale at Shuford Stadium.

Lenoir-Rhyne senior midfielder Carson Sterling (Durham, N.C.) led all scorers with four goals as the Bears, ranked No. 16 in NCAA Division II, pushed their winning streak to nine games.

Lenoir-Rhyne junior attacker Mike Hanlon (Haymarket, Va.) added three goals as the Bears broke a 5-5 tie at halftime by scoring four straight times to start the third period and take control of the contest.

Hanlon, who has a team-leading 36 goals on the year, scored the game-winner at the 12:19 mark of the second half. 

Catawba's Liam Lynch (Marietta, Ga.) tallied a goal and an assist but the Indians failed to have a player score more than one goal in the contest.

Lenoir-Rhyne sophomore midfielder Ben Corrigan (Johns Creek, Ga.) also scored twice for the Bears, who held a 41-35 advantage in shots taken in claiming their second league regular season title in three years.

Lenoir-Rhyne sophomore goalkeeper Ryan Crompton (Frederick, Md.) earned the win after making nine saves while Catawba's Ryan Applegate (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) suffered the lost despite totaling 12 saves.

Lenoir-Rhyne will be the top seed in the 2016 South Atlantic Conference Men's Lacrosse Championship and will take on the winner of fourth-seeded Coker and fifth-seeded Tusculum in the semifinals of the tournament on Thursday at 4:00 p.m., in Charlotte, N.C., on the campus of Queens University.