HICKORY, N.C. - Third year head coach Brent Owen and the Lenoir-Rhyne men's basketball team have released their 2026-27 schedule.

Coach Owen and his staff of Tyrone Grady and Cesar Lujan-Flores are coming off an extremely successful two-year stretch that saw the Bears go 55-15, win five NCAA Tournament games, and take home an NCAA Southeast Regional and SAC Tournament Championship in 2025. Last season the Bears finished 26-9 and advanced to a second consecutive Southeast Region Championship game. Coach Owen's teams have set season records for points, field goals, free throws, and rebounding margin. Running a high octane offense, the Bears have hit the 100 point mark 10 times under Owen's tenure.

"We are excited about this schedule for a couple of reasons," said coach Owen. "First, we feel that it will challenge and prepare us for March with non-conference games against teams we have recently played in the NCAA tournament. Second, we love the fact that it will allow our fans five chances to see us play at home in November. Over the past two years, those November home games have been sparse. We love that we will be able to get the party in Shuford Arena started early this season with three home games the week of November 9th. We believe that this will help us build early momentum to once again lead the SAC in attendance and be amongst the best in that category nationally."

Lenoir-Rhyne fans continued to show out for the Bears last season, ranking 30th in average attendance and 5th in percentage of stadium capacity filled per game, being one of just five teams in the country that had at least half the arena filled for every game last season. 

This year's schedule features six teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament in the previous two seasons, including four from last year alone. The Bears open their season on Monday, November 9th, with a rematch of last year's NCAA Tournament game vs. Young Harris. Lenoir-Rhyne then hosts the Southeast Region Crossover on Friday/Saturday, November 13-14, where they will play Chowan on that Friday and Clayton State on Saturday.

The Bears' first road contest will be on the road at USC Beaufort, a team that was on the cusp of their first NCAA Tournament appearance last season. The early season non-conference slate closes with Youth Day against Claflin on Tuesday, November 24th. Following a string of conference games, the Bears will host UNC Pembroke on Saturday, January 2nd. These teams have faced off in each of the previous two seasons, including in the 2025 NCAA Southeast Region Championship. 

Conference play begins on Saturday, November 28th, when the Bears host perennial power Lincoln Memorial. The conference road game will take place the next week when the Bears travel to Mars Hill on Wednesday, December 2nd. The final conference games of the 2026-27 season will take place at home, on February 24th and 27th against reigning SAC Champion Anderson and 2025 NCAA Tournament qualifier Carson-Newman. The SAC Tournament will take place from March 3-6 at the Rock Hill Sports and Events Center in Rock Hill, S.C. 

"In addition, I would encourage everyone to keep an eye out for an exciting announcement about a preseason contest next month that will be great for our program and great exposure for our University."

This year's roster returns seven players from last year's squad, including two four-year guys in Sam Martin and Conner Tilley. In addition to those returners, coach Owen added eight newcomers in the form of five transfers and three freshman. To view and read about this year's roster, click HERE.