ANDERSON, S.C. - The Lenoir-Rhyne men's basketball team advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year thanks to an 80-67 win over North Georgia on Saturday night.
Lenoir-Rhyne put five players in double figures and were led by 15 points from
Conrad Luczynski and
Blessin Kimble.The Bears will take on #8 seeded Young Harris tomorrow night. The Mountain Lions upset top seeded Anderson 72-69 in their first round game earlier today.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: (RV) Lenoir-Rhyne 80, North Georgia 67
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (25-8), North Georgia (22-8)
Location: Anderson, S.C. | Abney Athletic Center
STORY OF THE GAME:
- Junior Hodnett put the Bears up with a layup 10 seconds into the game and the Bears never relinquished the lead.
- The Bears saw themselves go up 14-6 after a strong dunk from Conrad Luczynski.
- North Georgia kept things close but an Amarion Savage layup with four minutes left in the first half extended Lenoir-Rhyne's lead to nine.
- The Bears went into the locker room with a 35-28 lead.
- Akili Evans hit a three early in the second half to give the Bears their first double-digit lead of the game, 40-30.
- The Nighthawks cut the lead to 51-47 but a 12-0 run, capped off by a three from Hodnett, gave the Bears back the momentum.
- Lenoir-Rhyne's lead didn't slip under double-figures for the final 7:30 of game time.
STATS OF THE GAME:
- Conrad Luczynski (15), Blessin Kimble (15), Akili Evans (14), Julian Dozier (12), and Junior Hodnett (11) finished in double-figures.
- Tyler Burraston led the team with seven boards and Dozier was tops with six assists.
- Conrad Luczynski continued to add to his school-record block total with three more on the night.
- The Bears shot 27-61 (44.3%) from the field, 5-20 (25%) from three, and 21-24 (87.5%) from the free throw line.
- North Georgia was 23-55 (41.8%) from the field, 6-19 (31.6%) from three, and 15-19 (78.9%) from the charity stripe.
- The Bears won the battle in the pain 40-32 and out-rebounded their counterparts 38-31.
- Lenoir-Rhyne committed a season-low nine turnovers.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
- This was the first time these teams had ever met.
- This is the fourth time Lenoir-Rhyne has advanced to the NCAA Tournament second round.
- This game was between the last two Southeast Regional Champions.
- Lenoir-Rhyne was the only SAC school to advance to the round of 32 as both Catawba and LMU also lost.
UP NEXT: The Bears will take on an upstart Young Harris squad who just upset #1 seeded Anderson in the opening round. Young Harris features D2CCA Region Player of the Year Carl Cleveland, who averages 26 points and eight rebounds a game. There will be no pre-sale of tickets for tomorrow's matchup, all tickets can be bought at the door. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.