HICKORY, N.C. – The Lenoir-Rhyne Men's Basketball Team hosts Wingate University on Wednesday evening looking to put an end to a tough two game losing streak. The Bears dropped a pair last week by a combined three points at Newberry (103-101) and at home against Anderson (71-70).
The Bears are no stranger to tight games this year. Of their 22 games, 15 have been decided by single digits. Three of LR's six losses on the year have been by one possession with two coming inside Shuford Gym.
The Bears came away with a 67-64 win at Wingate on Jan. 9, which still stands at the lowest scoring output for the Bulldogs on the year. Wingate sharpshooter Marco Haskins was held to a season-low one 3-pointer in that game but PG Frankie Johnson picked up the slack with a double-double (18 pts, 10 reb).
Djibril Diallo grabbed a season-high 10 boards for the Bears and
Cory Thomas led the Bears with 13 points.
Off the bench,
Darius Simmons has been on fire as of late. Simmons was named the league's Player of the Week last week after pouring in 13.5 points per game in just 14.5 minutes per game. In his last four games, Simmons has gone 14-of-20 from the field and 9-for-11 from long range. On the year, Simmons is shooting 53.3 percent from the field and 59.4 percent from long range.
The high-scoring duo of Diallo and Thomas combine for 30.3 points per game and also grab 11.4 boards per contest between the two of them.
Haskins is the leading scorer for Wingate, pouring in 19.3 points per game and is one of three players averaging double figures in scoring. Emarius Logan and Johnson each put in 11.3 points per night and Jakob Dawkins scores 9.7 points/game. Haskins has knocked down 78 of the team's 220 3-pointers on the year and the senior is hitting on 46.4 percent of his long range attempts.
The matchup will determine sole possession of fourth place. LR enters the nation with a ½ game lead in the league standings and a win would give the Bears the tiebreaker over their rivals.
Following the game with Wingate, LR heads to Tusculum for a 4 p.m. tipoff on Saturday.
