Greeneville, Tenn. – The Lenoir-Rhyne University Men's Basketball Team (11-14, 9-10) picked up a much-needed 82-79 South Atlantic Conference road victory over Tusculum (6-19, 4-14) Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Arena.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Lenoir-Rhyne 82, Tusculum 79 
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (11-14, 9-10 SAC), Tusculum (6-19, 4-14 SAC)
Location: Pioneer Arena | Greeneville, Tenn.
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STATS OF THE GAME:
•    Lenoir-Rhyne junior guard Djibril Diallo (Conakry, GUINEA) led the way with a game-high 22 points in addition to seven assists and seven rebounds while junior guard Cory Thomas (Louisville, Ky.) came off the bench to score 19 points in the victory.
•    The Pioneers lost despite hitting 11 treys and putting four players in double figures.  Donovan Donaldson (Nashville, Tenn.) scored a team-high 16 points for Tusculum.  
•    LR redshirt freshman guard Darius Simmons (Raleigh, N.C.) – who scored 10 points – gave the Bears the lead for good with a trey at the 4:02 mark to break a 69-all tie.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
•    The Bears swept the season series from the Pioneers.
•    Diallo continues his impressive play of late and is now leading the squad in scoring (15.4), assists (106), free throw percentage (.796) and steals (38).
•    Lenoir-Rhyne junior guard Reed Lucas (Greensboro, N.C.) – with 12 points on the day – now has 1,087 career points (43rd on the school's all-time list).  Lucas also has 217 treys for his career.

UP NEXT:
Lenoir-Rhyne returns home to take on second-ranked Queens in a South Atlantic Conference game for Senior Day on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m., while Tusculum travels to Anderson, S.C., to take on league-foe Anderson Wednesday beginning at 8:00 p.m., as well.