GREENEVILLE, TENN.  – Nas Tyson's 3-pointer with 2.9 seconds to play sent Lenoir-Rhyne to a narrow victory at Tusculum who entered the contest a half-game out of first place in the conference standings. Tyson actually scored the last five points of the game for the Bears who won their second straight contest. 

GAME INFORMATION:
Final: Lenoir-Rhyne 65, Tusculum 62
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (6-14, 4512 SAC) I Tusculum (12-6, 12-4 SAC)
Location: Pioneer Arena

STATS AND INFO:
- The Bears improve to 2-5 in games decided by one possession this season
- After being outrebounded by a large margin in the first matchup with Tusculum, each squad grabbed 39 boards tonight and LR held a 15-13 edge in offensive rebounds
- LR's largest lead in the tight contest was three after Tyson's last-second bucket
- LR is now 13-13 in the SAC era at Tusculum

FIRST HALF:
- T.J. Nesmith got the Bears off to a good start with 13 points in the first half in just seven minutes of action
- Nesmith was 4-of-6 from the field and went 4-of-5 from the charity stripe
- Jalen Johnson and Salle Wilson each scored six first-half points for LR who shot 44.4 percent from the field
- Justin Mitchell paced the hosts with 12 points in the opening 20 minutes and went 5-of-8 from the field
- Tusculum shot just 41.9 percent from the floor and 30.8 percent from long range 
- The teams would combine for just nine turnovers as Tusculum took a narrow 33-32 advantage into the break

SECOND HALF:
- Tusculum came out of the gates strong to start the second half and used a 10-2 run in the first four minutes to take a 43-34 lead, their largest of the game
- LR would chip away over the rest of the second half and a free throw by Kevin Kangu at the 2:53 mark evened the contest at 56
- Salle Wilson would score on back-to-back possessions for LR with his second jumper giving the Bears a 60-58 lead with 1:16 to play
- Tusculum evened the contest at 60 but a tip-in from Tyson with 30 seconds to go put the Bears up a pair
- Trenton Gibson would get fouled with 11 seconds and calmly sank both free throws to set the stage for Tyson's dramatic game-winner
- The Pioneers trapped in the press but LR broke it and Johnson found Tyson on the wing whose jumper was nothing but net
 

ABOUT THE BEARS:
- Nesmith led LR with 17 points but was held to four in the second half
- Johnson had 13 points and three steals
- Wilson had 10 points and Tyson would finish with nine points, five assists and four rebounds (all offensive boards)
- LeGania had nine points and was a perfect 3-of-3 from the floor

NOTABLE PIONEERS:
- Gibson, the reigning SAC Player of the Year and second-leading scorer in the conference, was held to three points and was 0-for-9 from the field
- Justin Mitchell would finish with a game-high 21 points and added five boards and Brandon Mitchell added 12 points and nine boards
- Gibson did manage seven assists on the afternoon and William Vedder had nine points

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