Lenoir-Rhyne Holds Off Late Lion Rally

HICKORY, N.C.- Lenoir-Rhyne's Brooke Robinson scored five points in the final minute of play as the Bears held off Mars Hill 82-76 in the 2014-15 regular season finale in Shuford Gymnasium on Saturday. Mars Hill finishes 11-16 overall with a 9-13 South Atlantic Conference record while Lenoir-Rhyne finishes at 11-15 and 10-12.

Camille Glymph led Mars Hill with 37 points, followed by Cadence Wilmoth with 17 points. Paige Chavis scored nine points. Chavis, Raven Brown and Genice Lane each pulled down seven rebounds.

Lenoir-Rhyne was led by Jazmine Charles with 32 points. Jenni Gust scored 27 points, followed by Robinson with 10. Robinson had a game-high eight rebounds.

The Bears opened the contest with a 9-0 run and led 12-2 at the 16:40 mark of the first half. Mars Hill pulled to within four, 15-11, following a Kelsey Espinosa layup with 13:41 to go in the half. Lenoir-Rhyne extended their lead back to 10, 23-13, with a Gust 3-pointer at the 11:19 mark, only to see the Lions pull back within four, 25-21, thanks to a Wilmoth layup with 8:35 remaining before halftime. A Charles layup gave the hosts a game-high 12 point lead (33-21) with 4:34 remaining and the Bears led by no fewer than seven points en route to a 40-30 halftime lead.

A Jordan Hiatt 3-pointer with 14:19 to play gave Lenoir-Rhyne a 55-42 lead. The Lions pulled to within seven with 9:30 to play thanks to a Chavis layup, only to have the hosts answer with a Charles 3-pointer to push the Lenoir-Rhyne lead back to double digits. Mars Hill went on a 12-1 run, taking a 63-62 lead on a Brown layup with 6:25 to go.

Charles responded for the Bears, giving them the lead back on a 3-pointer with 5:25 remaining for a 66-65 advantage. The Lions would pull to within one on three occasions only to have Lenoir-Rhyne answer with a bucket. Robinson gave the Bears a 77-72 lead following a pair of free throws with 46 seconds remaining. Glymph was fouled on the next two Mars Hill possessions and made four straight free throws to bring the Lions to within a point, 77-76, with 19 seconds remaining. Robinson boosted the Bear advantage as she completed the old-fashioned three-point play with 16 seconds left to give the hosts an 80-76 lead. After a missed Mars Hill 3-point attempt, Charles was fouled with two seconds left and scored the final two points of the game via free throws.

Mars Hill held a 36-29 rebounding advantage and made 12 of 13 free throw attempts. Lenoir-Rhyne outshot the Lions 49.1 percent to 46.7 percent.

Mars Hill will await seeding for the South Atlantic Conference women's basketball tournament, which begins on Wednesday.