MARS HILL, N.C.  – The Lenoir-Rhyne Men's Basketball Team scored the second-most points in a game and shot over 47 percent from the field in a road victory over Mars Hill. The Bears turned the ball over just six times in the contest, the second-fewest on the year.

GAME INFORMATION:
Final: Lenoir-Rhyne 96, Mars Hill 84
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (5-14, 4-12 SAC) I Mars Hill (4-12, 4-9 SAC)
Location: Chambers Gym

STATS AND INFO:
- LR led at the half for the fifth straight game
- The Bears have won nine straight overall against Mars Hill and haven't lost on the road since 2017
- These two teams will play again on Feb. 19. This is the last SAC opponent that LR has played and they have already completed the season series against Wingate, Coker, Carson-Newman and Lincoln Memorial
- LR grabbed a season-high 41 rebounds and 17 offensive boards

FIRST HALF:
- Jalen Johnson, Kevin Kangu and T.J. Nesmith each had five points as the balanced offensive attack led the Bears to a 21-13 lead midway through the first half
- LR's lead would swell to 11 at 29-18 on a Nas Tyson 3-pointer with 6:36 to go in the half
- Salle Wilson's driving layup with 1:23 to go in the first half were the last points of the half for either side as LR took a 43-31 advantage
- LR shot 45.9 percent for the frame and held Mars Hill to 39.3 percent shooting
- The Bears reserves outscored the Mars Hill bench 23-7 in the first half and held a 30-8 edge in points in the paint
- LR only turned the ball over just once in the half
- Isaiah Jones led Mars Hill with 14 first-half points

SECOND HALF:
- Tyson's 3-pointer in transition 1:49 into the second half pushed the Bears lead to 50-34 and forced a Mars Hill timeout
- Wilson would push LR's lead to the largest of the game at 64-47 with just over 12 minutes to play
- Mars Hill would cut into the lead with a 13-5 run to draw within single digits at 69-60 at the under eight media timeout
- LR had the answer with an old fashioned 3-point play from Malik LeGania and a triple from Johnson to extend the lead back to 15
- Proving they wouldn't go away easily, Mars Hill hit three straight 3-pointers and cut it to 75-69 with five minutes to play
- Nesmith would take over down the stretch and score nine points in the final five minutes
- Kaden Dawkins erupted for 26 second-half points to keep the Lions close
- Johnson went 6-of-6 from the line to seal the victory down the stretch

ABOUT THE BEARS:
- Johnson finished with a team-high 22 points and added four boards and went 2-3 from deep
- Nesmith had 20 points and five boards to go with a pair of blocks
- Kevin Kangu (13), Salle Wilson (12) and Nas Tyson (10) rounded out the five scorers in double figures for the Bears
- LeGania had nine points and was a perfect 3-of-3 from the floor

NOTABLE LIONS:
- Dawkins, who didn't score in the first half, finished with a game-high 26 and went 5/7 from deep
- Jones finished with 22 points and 10 boards and was 8/12 from the field
- Trey Belin came off the bench to score 11 points

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