WINGATE, N.C. – Lenoir-Rhyne dominated No. 16 Wingate, winning by a final score of 31-6 on Saturday night. The Bears scored the final 17 points of the game and forced a pair of second-half turnovers. 

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Lenoir-Rhyne 31, Wingate 6
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (6-2, 5-2 SAC), #16 Wingate (6-2, 4-1 SAC)
Location: Wingate, N.C. | Irwin Belk Stadium

STATS OF THE GAME:
•   LR got the scoring started on a quick 75-yard drive on their first possession. McGee capped a 6-play, 75-yard drive in 2:49 to score for the 16th time on the season.
•   McGee pushed the lead to 14-0 with a 12-yard scamper in the remaining seconds of the first quarter. 
•   Wingate answered with a 26-yard field goal on their first drive of the second quarter and neither team would score over the final 12:08 of the first half. 
•   LR held Wingate to 134 yards on 29 plays in the first half. Offensively, Ryan Carter had seven grabs for 91 yards in the first 30 minutes of the game.
•   The defenses held tight until LR broke a long play with 1:51 left in the third quarter. Grayson Willingham hit Deondre Lester for a 47-yard touchdown pass which broke the LR record for most career completions for the redshirt senior QB.
•   Jon Ross Maye then broke the game open with a 50-yard interception return for touchdown to put the Bears up 28-6. 
•   Chase Allbaugh hit a 22-yard field goal to close out the scoring.
•   Willingham finished 18-for-25 for 204 yards and touchdown and Carter had eight grabs for 95 yards. 
•   McGee finished the game with 93 yards on 20 carries and his two touchdowns. 
•   Nijere Peoples ran for 106 yards on 16 carries, the second opposing RB to reach 100 yards in a game. 

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
•   Andre Jefferson recorded a sack in the second quarter to extend LR's program-record streak of consecutive games with a sack to 51 straight.
•   Jefferson finished with a pair of sacks.
•   This was the first time this season that McGee fell shy of 100 yards on the ground.
•   De'Andre Shelton had an interception and LR finished with three sacks on the night.
•   The LR defense has allowed just nine points in the past three games and hasn't allowed a touchdown since the fourth quarter of the Tusculum game.
•   LR has won five in a row over Wingate.
•   This is LRs 13th win over a ranked opponent in the NCAA Era and the first since defeating No. 25 Carson-Newman in the 2019 playoffs.

UP NEXT: LR will travel to Barton next weekend for a 4 p.m. kickoff.