Lions down L-R at home

MARS HILL, N.C. - The Mars Hill men's basketball team (6-15, 2-10 SAC) defeated Lenoir-Rhyne (8-13, 3-10 SAC) by a score of 78-66 Saturday afternoon inside Chambers Gymnasium.

The contest was tied at 36 entering the second half of play. Less than five minutes into the second, the teams were tied at 46 before Lenoir-Rhyne began to pull away. An 10-3 run saw the Bears lead by seven with under 12 minutes to play. 

Mars Hill began to claw back with under seven minutes remaining, going on an 18-0 run to rally from behind and secure the win. The Lions shot 55 percent from the floor and were led by eight points apiece from Kory Davis and Dominic Strother. Jackson Reid added seven while the duo of Rajuan Conner and Prosper Obidiebube netted six apiece for a balance scoring effort.

Davis led all players in the first half of play with 15 points followed by seven from Kendall Davis. Lenoir-Rhyne's offense was paced by L.J. McCoy's seven points and six from Jalen Johnson. Conner led all players with six rebounds in the first.

Davis ended the night with 23 points and seven assists to lead all players. Conner collected a game-high 11 rebounds and chipped in eight points. Kendall Davis ended the night with 11 points while Obidiebube and Reid closed out the contest with 10 points apiece.

Following the women's upset win earlier in the day, the win marks the first daily sweep over Lenoir-Rhyne since the 2010-11 season and also marks the first home South Atlantic Conference sweep since the 2019-20 season (Feb. 15 - Wingate).

Mars Hill returns to action on Wednesday, February 8 when they host Carson-Newman inside Chambers Gymnasium. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.