HICKORY, N.C. - The Lenoir-Rhyne Men's Basketball Team handed Catawba its third straight loss in an important South Atlantic Conference battle on Wednesday evening. The Bears held Catawba to 18 points and 23.3 percent shooting in the first half and moved into sole possession for third place in the league standings. 

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Lenoir-Rhyne 73, Catawba 65
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (14-4, 7-3 SAC), Catawba (13-5, 6-4 SAC) 
Location: Hickory, N.C. | Shuford Gym

STATS OF THE GAME:
•    The Bears defense held Catawba 23 points under their scoring average. The Indians boast the highest scoring offense in the league but LR locked them down and held Catawba to its lowest scoring output of the season. 
•    Jon Jean led the Bears in scoring, pouring in 16 points and dishing out five assists. The PG had two steals and went to the free throw line 13 times. 
•    Deontae Weaver grabbed a season-high nine rebounds in his 26 minutes of action. Weaver added six points and three assists. 
•   Jameel Taylor was the leading scorer for Catawba. The guard scored 17 points but turned the ball over five times in the game. 
•   LR held a 25-8 advantage in fast break points and never trailed in the game. 

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
•    In the 18th game of the season, these two teams came in with identical overall records and identical conference records. 
•    The win is the 35th coaching victory at Lenoir-Rhyne for Head Coach Everick Sullivan. 
•    LR owns the second-best scoring defense in the SAC, allowing just 73.6 points per game. 
•    This was the 205th all-time meeting between these two programs with LR owning the series 113-92. 

UP NEXT:
LR is back in action on January 30 when they travel to nationally-ranked Queens for an 8 p.m. contest.