ROCK HILL, SC - It's called March Madness for the reason. In a game with seven technical fouls, 73 free throws, and 54 personal fouls, the Bears came out on top, taking down #6 seeded Catawba 84-83 for their third win over the Indians this season. Ziare Wells hit the game winning free throw with 15 seconds remaining, and Hantz Louis-Jeune picked up a clutch block in the final seconds to secure the win. 

The Bears advance to tomorrow's championship game, where they will face No. 1 seeded Lincoln Memorial at 4 p.m. LMU advanced to tomorrow's game with a slim 81-78 victory over Carson-Newman in the day's first semi-final.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: #14 Lenoir-Rhyne 84, Catawba 83 
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (25-5, 20-4 SAC), Catawba (18-12, 14-10 SAC)
Location: Rock Hill, SC | Rock Hill Sports and Events Center

STORY OF THE GAME

• The Bears jumped out to an early 10-2 lead thanks in part to six points from Ziare Wells.
• The Indians were kept at bay for much of the first half, as a Julian Dozier layup put the Bears up 25-15 with 6:39 remaining in the frame.
• Catawba but the Bears lead to five late but Lenoir-Rhyne held strong and used a last second jumper from Conrad Luczynski to take a 41-32 lead into the locker room.
• A Tay Smith dunk four minutes into the second half put the Bears up 15 and forced Catawba to use one of their timeouts.
• The Bears continued to push, extending the lead to 69-51 with 8:24 remaining in the game.
• The chippiness of the game began to show late, as multiple technical fouls from the Bears allowed the Indians to get free points at the foul line, cutting the lead down to just four. 
• Catawba kept battling and eventually tied the game at 83-83 with 37 seconds left. 
• Ziare Wells, who has been clutch all year, hit a free throw with 15 seconds left to put the Bears ahead.
• The Bears forced a miss three and Hantz Louis-Jeune and Luczynski contest a late layup to seal the win for the Bears.

STATS OF THE MATCH:

• Julian Dozier (18), Hantz Louis-Jeune (17), Tay Smith (16), and Ziare Wells (16) led a balanced scoring effort for the Bears.
• Dozier flirted with a triple double, also finishing with six boards and six assists.
• Wells set a new LR career high with four steals.
• The Bears shot 27-52 (51.9%) from the field, 5-11 (45.5%) from three, and 25-33 (75.8%) from the free throw line.
• Catawba was 22-59 (37.3%) from the field, 7-23 (30.4%), and 32-40 (80%) from the free throw line. 
• Despite struggling shooting the ball, Catawba nearly won this game thanks to their 17 offensive boards.
• LR outscored Catawba 40-26 in the paint.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• This is the first SAC Championship game appearance for the Bears since 2019. 
• This will be the eighth SAC title game appearance for LR. 
• The Bears now hold a 43-38 all-time record against Catawba and have won four straight.
• Ziare Wells is Lenoir-Rhyne's first 500+ point single season scorer since R.J. Gunn and Darius Simmons accomplished the feat in 2019-20.
• Brent Owen has now made back-to-back conference championship games, as he won the Lone Star conference title at Eastern New Mexico last year.

UP NEXT: The Bears will now take on Lincoln Memorial tomorrow at 4 p.m. from the Rock Hill Sports and Events Center. These teams have met twice this year, with the Bears winning a 79-77 game in Hickory and LMU taking the victory 87-59 in Harrogate.