GREENWOOD – Marcus Hodges made three 3-pointers during a crucial second-half stretch, leading Lenoir-Rhyne to a 70-63 victory over Lander Tuesday in the Lander New Year’s Classic at Horne Arena.
Hodges led all scorers with 22 points as the Bears improved to 3-8 on the season. Lander fell to 5-4.
Antonio Pope led the Bearcats with a double-double, scoring 12 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. Dane Sparrow was Lander’s top scorer with 18 points while Brenton Harris added 14 points.
D.J. Blackmon contributed 14 points and a team-high six rebounds for the Bears.
Each team made 23 of 52 shots from the floor (44 percent), but the difference was behind the 3-point line where Lenoir-Rhyne hit seven of 19 (37 percent) while the Bearcats made only two of 14 (14 percent). Hodges hit four of L-R’s treys while Spenser Sydney added two.
Another difference was at the line where L-R hit 17 of 18 (94 percent) while the Bearcats hit only 15 of 25 (60 percent). Lander had a 37-27 rebounding advantage.
Lander maintained a lead early in the game, twice leading by as many as six, before the Bears rallied to take a 17-16 advantage on a three-point play by Hodges with 6:45 left in the half.
The Bearcats went on a 6-0 run, taking a 22-17 lead on baskets by Harris and Pope, and two free throws by Darius Johnson. But L-R responded with a 9-0 run, grabbing a 26-22 advantage with Matt Kunz making a lay-up, Hodges hitting a basket and 3-pointer, and Blackmon making a jumper.
Zach Allen’s 3-pointer gave the Bears a 29-25 lead before Greg Smalls closed the half with two free throws to pull the hosts within 29-27 at the break.
After Lenoir-Rhyne opened the second half with a basket, Lander erased the four-point deficit on Sparrow’s 3-pointer and Pope’s put-back to take a 32-31 lead.
After the game was tied at 32, 34, 36, 38 and 41, the Bearcats took a 45-41 lead on two free throws by Smalls and a put-back by Harris. But Hodges hit a trio of unanswered 3-pointers to give the Bears a 50-45 advantage with nine minutes left.
Trailing 54-50, the Bearcats had an opportunity to cut into their deficit but missed three out of four free throws. Sydney then hit a 3-pointer to give Lenoir-Rhyne some breathing room at 57-51.
Blackmon’s put-back pushed L-R’s lead to 60-53 with less than two minutes left, and Alex Watkins added a pair of free throws to increase the advantage to nine at the 1:27 mark.
While Harris scored for Lander, the Bears restored the nine-point lead, 64-55, when Ja’Wan Davis made a lay-up off Sydney’s long pass with one minute to go. Davis and Hodges added free throws to help L-R pull away.
