HICKORY, N.C. --- The Lenoir-Rhyne men's basketball team raced out to a 24-point lead, but had to hold off a furious second half Tusculum rally as the Bears prevailed 80-68 Wednesday night in South Atlantic Conference action at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium.
Lenoir-Rhyne (17-6, 10-5 SAC) sweeps the season series over the Pioneers (6-17, 4-11 SAC) to remain fifth in the conference standings. With the loss, Tusculum drops to sole possession of eighth place and currently holds the final spot for next month's Food Lion SAC Tournament in Greenville, S.C.
Denzel Dillingham posted his seasonal average with 17 points, to go along with his eight rebounds and six assists. Jarvis Perry and R.J. McClure scored 16 points each, while reigning SAC Player of the B.J. Beasley added nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds for the Bears.
Tusculum's Darius Carter led all scorers with his second straight 19-point performance. Carter shot 4-of-7 from the floor and 10-of-11 from the free throw line. Nick Spinks finished with 15 points, while Keith Jumper tallied 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor and a team-best nine rebounds.
With Tusculum leading 17-16 early in the contest, L-R scored seven unanswered points to talk a 23-17 advantage. Nick Spinks followed with five straight markers himself, including a three-pointer to trim the deficit to 23-22. The Bears would close out the final 7:14 of the period with a 23-6 run to take a 46-28 lead into halftime.
The Bears would score the first six points of the second period to take their largest lead of the night at 52-28 with 18:23 remaining in the contest.
But the Pioneers would not go away as the visitors mounted a huge comeback, going on a 27-7 run over the next 10:13 to cut the L-R lead to 59-55 with 8:10 left following a baseline three-pointer by Carter.
L-R worked the lead back to eight (63-55) thanks to a Dillingham basket and a pair of free throws from Matt Kunz.
TC responded with an 8-2 spurt to get with a bucket at 65-63 following Carter's two free throws with 4:22 left.
The Bears recovered with six straight points, including four markers by Kunz to take a 71-63 lead with 2:46 remaining in the contest. TC would get back to within six points at 74-68 after a rebound and put-back by Matt Shown with 47 seconds left.
But the hosts would close out the game with four Perry free throws and a Kunz dunk to seal the victory for the Bears.
Lenoir-Rhyne won the rebound battle by a 44-31 margin, including 17-10 on the offensive glass.
Tusculum finished the game shooting 41.2 percent, including 11-of-21 in the second half (52.4%). L-R shot 43.5 percent, including a sizzling 18-of-30 in the first half (60%).
Tusculum returns to action Saturday afternoon as the Pioneers travel to Mars Hill for a 4 p.m. contest at Stanford Arena. Lenoir-Rhyne will be at 19th-ranked Lincoln Memorial this Saturday night at 8 p.m. in Harrogate, Tenn.
- TC -
