Hickory, N.C. – The Wingate Men's Basketball Team (13-12, 10-7) withstood a furious rally to defeat Lenoir-Rhyne (10-14, 8-10), 73-69, Wednesday night at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium in a South Atlantic Conference game.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Wingate 73, Lenoir-Rhyne 69 
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (10-14, 8-10 SAC), Wingate (13-12, 10-7 SAC)
Location: Shuford Memorial Gymnasium | Hickory, N.C.
Get Social: Twitter - @BearsSports | Instagram - @BearsSports | Facebook - /LRbears

STATS OF THE GAME:
•    Lenoir-Rhyne was led by junior guard Djibril Diallo (Conakry, GUINEA) with a career-high 27 points while redshirt freshman guard Darius Simmons (Raleigh, N.C.) added 13 points in the losing effort.
•    Wingate's Zeriq Lolar (Orlando, Fla.) led all scorers with 24 points in addition to five treys while Marco Haskins (Fredericksburg, Va.) totaled 13 points and nine rebounds in the victory for the Bulldogs, who snapped a two-game losing streak.
•    Lenoir-Rhyne cut a 12-point deficit – 67-55 at the 5:35 mark of the second mark – to two points, 71-69, on a trey by Simmons with 38 seconds left but the Bears were held off the scoreboard the rest of the way.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
•    The Bulldogs avenged a loss to the Bears at home earlier this season.
•    The two teams combined for 21 three-pointers – 11 by Wingate and 10 by Lenoir-Rhyne – for the contest. Diallo also hit five three-pointers on the night.

UP NEXT:
Lenoir-Rhyne travels to Greeneville, Tenn., to take on Tusculum Saturday in league action at 4:00 p.m., while Wingate returns home to face league-foe Anderson Saturday afternoon beginning at 4:00 p.m.