GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – It has been a historic season for the Lenoir-Rhyne Men's Basketball Team and it will continue after a South Atlantic Conference Tournament Quarterfinal win over Tusculum on Wednesday evening. The Bears hadn't won a SAC Tournament game since beating Carson-Newman 111-109 in 2009. The Bears closed out the regular season with their first win over Lincoln Memorial since 2010 and have reached the 20-win plateau.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Lenoir-Rhyne 70 | Tusculum 58
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (20-9) | Tusculum (16-13)
Location: Timmons Arena | Greeneville, Tenn.
STATS OF THE GAME:
• The Bears used a 9-0 run in the last four minutes of the game to pull away from the hosts and advance to the semifinal round. After a Tusculum three cut the Bear lead to 55-54,
R.J. Gunn's 3-pointer sparked nine unanswered for LR who pushed the lead to double digits.
• For the second straight game,
Bertrand Awana was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field as the center finished with eight points and eight boards to go with a pair of assists and two blocks.
•
Cory Thomas scored a game-high 24 points on 7-of-14 shooting including 9-of-13 from the free throw line. Thomas added eight boards and three assists.
•
Djibril Diallo scored 10 points and totaled eight rebounds while
Darius Simmons and Gunn each scored nine points.
• Trenton Gibson led the Pioneers with 22 points while playing all 40 minutes. Tusculum was held to 37.7 percent shooting for the game.
• The Bears won despite shooting just 3-for-22 from long range. LR was efficient inside of the arc, shooting a scorching 60 percent from the field in the second half.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
• Previously, LR had fallen in the quarterfinal round five straight times before today's victory.
• The 20 wins this season is the second-highest total in the past 11 years of LR basketball, trailing only the 21-win team of 2015-16.
• With the women's team advancing, both team's will be in the semifinal for the first time since 2009 as well.
UP NEXT:
The Bears advance to take on Queens in the semifinals on Saturday. The Bears handed Queens its only conference loss in the regular season, a 92-79 LR victory on Jan. 30 at Queens. The semifinal will take place on the campus of Furman University at 5 p.m.
