Hickory, N.C. – The Lenoir-Rhyne Men's Basketball Team (9-11, 7-7) rallied from a 16-point deficit to down Newberry (11-10, 5-8), 89-82, Wednesday evening in a South Atlantic Conference game at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium.  The Bears notched a season-high in points scored.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Lenoir-Rhyne 89, Newberry 82
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (9-11, 7-7 SAC), Newberry (11-10, 5-8 SAC)
Location: Shuford Memorial Gymnasium | Hickory, N.C.
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STATS OF THE GAME:
•    Lenoir-Rhyne was led by senior guard Billy Bales (Elizabethton, Tenn.) and junior guard Djibril Diallo (Conakry, GUINEA) with 19 points each.  Bales and Diallo were two of four players to score in double figures for the Bears.
•    Bales scored 17 points in the first half highlighted by five treys and kept the Bears in the contest – LR trailed by a 43-33 advantage at intermission.
•    Newberry was led by Rob Valentine (Richmond, Va.) with 29 points and 11 rebounds while James Stepp (Greensboro, N.C.) scored 19 points but the Wolves couldn't maintain a 36-20 advantage at the 7:04 mark of the first half.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
•    Lenoir-Rhyne's defense did clamp down in the second half as the Bears totaled 10 steals while the Wolves hit just three of their 14 treys after intermission. •    Lenoir-Rhyne junior guard Reed Lucas (Greensboro, N.C.) scored six points to increase his career total to 1,057, ranking 47th on the Bears' all-time list.
•    The Bears held a 33-10 edge in points off the bench and were spearheaded by junior guard Cory Thomas' (Louisville, Ky.) double-double:  15 points and 10 rebounds.  Thomas leads the team in scoring (14.2) this year.
•    The two teams split the season series.

UP NEXT:
Lenoir-Rhyne remains at home to take on Carson-Newman while Newberry ventures to Harrogate, Tenn., to take on top-ranked Lincoln Memorial.  Both South Atlantic Conference games take place on Saturday afternoon beginning at 4:00 p.m.