HICKORY, N.C. - In their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2016, the No. 6-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne Bears head to Charlotte to take on the No. 3 seed USC Aiken Pacers at noon on Saturday at Queens University. 2019 marks the sixth NCAA Tournament appearance for the Bears who look for the fourth NCAA victory in program history. 

The Bears earned an at-large bid thanks to a 21-win season. LR knocked off Queens twice in the regular season, each time the Royals ranked inside the top 10 in the nation. The Bears also defeated Lincoln Memorial for the first time since 2010 and advanced to the SAC Tournament Championship game for the first time since 2005. Senior guard Cory Thomas has brought his game to the next level as the Bears began postseason play. In three SAC Tournament games, Thomas averaged 21.0 points per game and shot 23-of-39 en route to being named to the All-Tournament team. Junior center Bertrand Awana has also stepped his game up as of late. Over his past four games, Awana is 23-of-24 from the field and is averaging 12.3 points per game, 5.5 rebounds per game and 3.0 blocks per contest. His 58 blocked shots on the season rank him seventh in team history, just two away from moving into sixth place. 

USC Aiken averages 90 points per game and has four players who average 15 points per game or more. A pair of Pacers (Ty'lik Evans and Xzavier Barmore) were just named to the All-Southeast Region team this afternoon. The Pacers rank No. 17 in the nation and have advanced to their first NCAA Tournament since the 2013-14 season. 

This will be the second meeting between the two programs in the NCAA Tournament with USC Aiken claiming an 88-70 victory in the 2009 Big Dance. 

Live stats and video will be available for the game. For those who cannot attend, it will be streamed at Kickback Jack's in Hickory.