HICKORY, NC - Facing a strong Catawba side that is fighting for a spot in the NCAA Tournament, Tay Smith and Conrad Luczynski helped lead the #15 Bears to a big 82-67 win on Wednesday night. Smith scored a team-high 20 points while Luczynski notched a career-high 17 rebounds. 

Lenoir-Rhyne came in ranked fourth in this week's Southeast Region Rankings, putting them in a great spot to qualify for their first NCAA Tournament since 2018-19. Having already locked up the #2 seed in the SAC Tournament, the Bears will find out their opponent following Saturday's slate of games.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: #15 Lenoir-Rhyne 82, Catawba 67
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (22-5, 19-4 SAC), Catawba (16-11, 13-10 SAC)
Location: Hickory, NC | Shuford Arena

STORY OF THE GAME

• Thanks to the energy from yet another 1200+ crowd, the Bears went up 7-0 to start the game.
• Lenoir-Rhyne continued to push, using two threes from Junior Hodnett and multiple buckets from Tay Smith to extend their lead to 27-8 with 8:04 left in the half.
• The Bears defense was suffocating, as the Indians didn't get past 10 points until there was three minutes left in the half.
• Catawba hit a few threes late in the half, but a tipin layup from Conrad Luczynski put Lenoir-Rhyne up 42-23 heading into the break.
• With 9:21 remaining in the game, Hodnett hit a three to give LR their largest lead of the game at 64-39. 
• Catawba didn't go down without a fight, cutting the LR advantage to just 12 with three minutes remaining.
• A fast break dunk from Ziare Wells cooled off Catawba's comeback attempt and sealed the win for the home side.

STATS OF THE MATCH:

• Tay Smith (20), Junior Hodnett (14), Ziare Wells (13), Julian Dozier (13), and Conrad Luczynski (10) all finished in double-figures.
• Luczynski's 17 boards led the team, while both he and Sam Martin tied for the team lead with three blocks each.
• The Bears shot 31-67 (46.3%) from the field and 8-24 (33.3%) from three.
• Catawba was 25-75 (33.3%) from the field and 7-26 (26.9%) from three.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• Lenoir-Rhyne is now 42-38 in the all-time series with Catawba.
• Conrad Luczynski's 17 boards are the most for a Bear since JaQues Chambers recorded 20 against Carson-Newman in 2016.
• Sam Martin's 50 blocked shots this year ranks ninth all-time in single-season program history.
• Julian Dozier is now 13 assists away from breaking into the single-season top-ten.

UP NEXT: The Bears will be back at home for the last time this season on Saturday when they play host to Newberry for senior day. The ceremony is set to take place just prior to tipoff. Newberry, who is fighting for a playoff spot, is coming off a big 78-73 win over Anderson earlier tonight. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.