WINGATE, N.C.  – A huge second half by Jaren Cottingham and the Bulldogs erased an 11-point halftime deficit as Lenoir-Rhyne fell to Wingate in Cuddy Arena. The Bears were playing shorthanded on the night, playing without leading scorer Jalen Johnson and key reserve Malik LeGania.

GAME INFORMATION:
Final: Wingate 83, Lenoir-Rhyne 75
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (4-13, 3-11 SAC) I Wingate (14-4, 10-4 SAC)
Location: Cuddy Arena

STATS AND INFO:
- The Bears were looking for the season sweep of Wingate after taking the first matchup 75-70 in Hickory
- The Bears hit 13 threes on the night, the second-most in a game this season
- LR is 14-18 all-time at Wingate but still holds a 43-31 edge in the head-to-head series
- Wingate earned their 10^th SAC win of the season

FIRST HALF:
- The Bears jumped out of the gates and held Wingate to just one basket in the first six minutes
- Damion Medwinter's layup extended the lead to double digits at 21-11 at the 10:07 mark
- Marcus Metcalf's first bucket of the game gave the Bears their largest lead of the game at 34-18 with 5:23 to play 
- Kevin Kangu led all scorers in the first half with 11 points and Tim Steele added seven points. Nas Tyson also had seven points with two boards and two assists
- LR shot 50 percent from the field (14-28) and from long range (8-16) and held Wingate to 4-17 from 3-point range as LR went into the break up 40-29
- Jarren Cottingham had nine points for Wingate to lead the Bulldogs

SECOND HALF:
- Seven early points for Cottingham to start the second half ignited a  12-3 run that cut the LR advantage to 43-41 with 16:02 to play
- Wingate would grab the lead at the 14:29 mark on a Cottingham layup to extend the run to 16-3
- The Bulldogs would hit 10 of their first 13 shots from the field to start the second half and pushed their lead to 55-49 
- In total, Cottingham would drop 25 of his 34 points in the second half and Wingate shot 60.7 percent  as a team in the final 20 minutes
- The Bears battled valiantly to close out the game and turned a 12-point deficit to a 5-point deficit in just 28 seconds but Wingate hit free throws down the stretch to close out the game
- Wingate outscored LR 54-35 in the second half

ABOUT THE BEARS:
- Nas Tyson tied a career-high with 21 points in a homecoming game for the junior from Wingate
- Tyson would add four steals for the third time in his last four games
- Kangu netted 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting and a 5-of-7 performance from behind the arc
- Cooper Fowler poured in a season-high 14 points in 22 minutes of action

NOTABLE BULLDOGS:
- Cottingham finished 12-of-22 from the field and 9-for-13 from the charity stripe to pour in 34 points to go with five rebounds, four steals and three assists
- Donell Nixon had 18 points and went 5-6 from the field and 4-5 from long range to go with six boards
- Destin Clark had 10 rebounds and scored four points and Sean Elmore had 12 points on four made 3-pointers

UP NEXT: The Bears return to action on Saturday when they host Coker at 4 p.m.