HICKORY, N.C. – The 100
th season of Lenoir-Rhyne Men's Basketball officially kicked off on Saturday afternoon as the Bears defeated Catawba at John Lentz Court inside Shuford Memorial Gymnasium.
GAME INFORMATION:
Final: Lenoir-Rhyne 93, Catawba 86
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (1-0, 1-0 SAC) | Catawba (1-2, 1-2 SAC)
Location: John Lentz Court at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium
STATS AND INFO:
- This is the 210
th all-time meeting between Lenoir-Rhyne and Catawba
- The Bears now own a 115-95 edge in the all-time matchup that dates back to 1926
- This officially tipped of the 65
th season inside Shuford Gymnasium for the Bears - the facility officially opened in 1956
- This marked the 732
nd all-time game inside the Shu
- LR improves to 66-34 all-time in season openers
- The Bears are now 38-33 against Catawba in the SAC Era
FIRST HALF:
- Stars
R.J. Gunn and Terrence Whitfield each scored 12 points for their respective teams in the first half and each went 5-for-6 from the floor
- The Bears hit on 55.6 percent of their first half shots and went 6-for-13 from long range
- Catawba was 6-of-12 from 3-point land and 14-of-29 from the field
- LR opened the season with an alley-oop dunk off the first play as
Davion Bradford hit Gunn
SECOND HALF:
- The Bears came out of the break hot and extended a 44-40 halftime lead to 56-44 with 16:51 to play
- However, Catawba had the answer and came all the way back to take a 73-69 lead with just over seven minutes remaining
- With the Bears needing baskets late,
Darius Simmons took over and scored nine points in the final five minutes
-
Zim Fields had a clutch and-1 late in the game to seal the victory and Gunn buried a clutch 3-pointer to send LR to 1-0 on the year
ABOUT THE BEARS:
- Gunn finished with 22 points and added seven boards
- Simmons had 18 points with four assists
-
Mason Hawks had 14 points and four assists and went 6-of-9 from the field
NOTABLE INDIANS:
- Whitfield poured in a game-high 23 points
- Ben Bowen added a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards
- Lloyd Hemming came off the bench to score 18 points
UP NEXT:
The Bears hit the road for a rescheduled game at Mars Hill on Wednesday afternoon.
