HICKORY, N.C. - The Lenoir-Rhyne men's basketball team got back to their winning ways on Wednesday in a big way, defeating rival Wingate 92-59 inside a packed Shuford Arena.
Junior Hodnett and
Akili Evans each scored 18 to lead a balanced Bears scoring effort. Lenoir-Rhyne dominated the glass in this one, out rebounding Wingate 42-22, including a 29-10 edge in the second half.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Lenoir-Rhyne 92, Wingate 59
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (17-6, 11-4 SAC), Wingate (10-11, 5-10 SAC)
Location: Hickory, N.C. | Shuford Arena
STORY OF THE GAME:
- Lenoir-Rhyne never trailed in this one, as a Julian Dozier three at the 15:41 mark of the first half put the Bears up for good.
- The Bears pushed the lead to 23-13 after Dozier connected with Blessin Kimble for an ally oop dunk to ignite the crowd.
- Wingate scored just six points over the final five minutes of the first half and Lenoir-Rhyne went into the locker room leading 38-25.
- That lead quickly ballooned to 20 thanks to back-to-back threes from Akili Evans four minutes into the second half.
- A Sam Martin layup extended Lenoir-Rhyne's advantage to 66-35 with 10 minutes left in the game.
- The Bears outscored the Bulldogs 54-34 in the second half.
STATS OF THE GAME:
- Julian Dozier (12), Amarion Savage (11), and Conrad Luczynski (10) joined Hodnett and Evans in double figures.
- Savage dished out six assists and hauled in five boards.
- Hodnett picked up four more steals to move his season total to 40.
- The Bears shot 34-59 (57.6%) from the field, 11-23 (47.8%) from three, and 13-16 (81.3%) from the free throw line in the win.
- Wingate was held to just 22-60 (36.7%) from the field, 7-24 (29.2%) from three and 8-12 (66.7%) from the charity stripe.
- Lenoir-Rhyne outscored the Bulldogs 21-4 in fast break points and 38-18 in points in the paint.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
- Wingate's 59 points are the fewest they have scored in a rivaLRy game since a 67-57 Bears win in January of 2015.
- Lenoir-Rhyne now leads the all-time series 49-33 and have won five straight.
- The Bears are tied for sixth in the country with a 51.2% team shooting percentage.
- Lenoir-Rhyne's +8.4 rebounding margin is 11th in DII.
- Due to losses from Catawba and UVA Wise, Lenoir-Rhyne holds the solo spot for second in the SAC behind Anderson.
UP NEXT: Lenoir-Rhyne will be back in Shuford Arena on Saturday for a matchup that holds major SAC and NCAA Tournament implications. The Bears face off against the UVA Wise Cavaliers, a team that beat them 76-67 in Virginia back in December. The Cavs (17-6, 10-5 SAC) fell 85-70 to Carson-Newman earlier tonight. Tip-off for Saturday's matchup is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.