LR TEAMS REACH REGIONAL FINALS
Men fall to Lander, women come up short against Carson-Newman
Lenoir-Rhyne's Junior Hodnett (11) knocks the ball away on defense from Mars Hill's Christian Foy (2) during a Dec. 20 game at Shuford Arena in Hickory.
Akili Evans (7) goes up for a layup in a game in Shuford Arena earlier this season.
ABOVE: Lenoir-Rhyne's Abigail Brown (11) tries to drive the lane against pressure from Coker's Janay Legagneur (23) on Feb. 18 at Shuford Arena in Hickory.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL</p>
Lenoir-Rhyne men's basketball fell 86-62 to Lander in the Southeast Regional Championship game on Tuesday.
It was Lenoir-Rhyne's second consecutive appearance in the regional championship game after making the Elite Eight last season. The Bears finish the season with a record of 26-9 (17-5 SAC).
Lander will be making their second ever trip to the Elite Eight.
LR jumped out to an early 14-6 lead thanks to six early points from Blessin Kimble. The Bears extended the lead to nine with 14:23 left in the half behind a bucket from Sam Martin. That's when Lander came storming back. They outscored LR 14-3 over the next six minutes to take a 24-22 lead. Junior Hodnett then hit a three to give the Bears a 25-24 lead. It would be their last lead of the game, though, as Lander closed the half on a 13-4 run to take a 37-29 lead into the break.
The road to the finals
The Bears advanced to the regional championship with an 80-67 win over North Georgia on Saturday and an 84-78 victory over Young and Harris on Sunday. Six LR players scored at least eight points in a balanced offensive attack in the quarterfinal win and Tyler Burraston knocked down seven threes in the semifinal game for 21 points. Kimble added 22 points and nine rebounds for the Bears on Sunday.
This LR team set program records for points (3,131), rebounding margin (7.2), and free throws made (703) this season. Burraston ranks first all-time for threes made in a single season with 115 while Hodnett is sixth with 78.
Conrad Luczynski owns the school record for single-season blocks with 81 while Sam Martin's 121 career blocks ranks sixth in program history. Head coach Brent Owen now has a record of 55-15 in two seasons at Lenoir-Rhyne.
Women's basketball falls in regional finals
The women's basketball season came to an end Monday with a 72-53 loss in the regional championship to Carson-Newman.
Lenoir-Rhyne finishes their season with a record of 26-6 and a South Atlantic Conference Regular Season Championship. The 26 wins is the fourth most in program history and their 20 conference victories sets a new program record.
Carson-Newman advances to their second Elite Eight in program history.
The Bears and the Eagles battled back and forth early. Trista Charles hit three free throws to give Lenoir-Rhyne their last lead of the game at 13-12 with 2:39 left in the first quarter. From there, Carson-Newman slowly built a double-digit lead. The Eagles went into the locker room up 34-24.
LR rallied in the third and Abigail Brown cut the lead to five, 40-35, with 6:17 remaining in the third, but that's as close as they would get. Following that bucket, Lenoir-Rhyne went scoreless over the next six minutes while Carson-Newman pushed the lead back out to 17. Brown led the Bears with 13 points while Aaliyah El chipped in 11.
The road to the finals
The Bears advanced to the regional finals with an 83-74 win over Augusta on Friday and a 54-45 win over Coker on Saturday. Amiya Porter had 24 points in the quarterfinal game on 7-of-8 shooting from downtown. El had 22 points, six rebounds and three assists and Charles came off the bench to score 19.
On Saturday, the Bears limited Coker to just 18 points in the second half on 18% shooting from the field.
Lenoir-Rhyne set program records for points (2,701), threes (279), blocked shots (126), and consecutive wins (19) this season. El's 545 points ranks fifth in program history for a single season. Tatum Bowen, Porter and Elyseia Brown all joined the single-season top 10 for threes made and Abigail Brown's 58 blocks places her fifth all-time.
There were no seniors on this roster, so every player is eligible to return for next season.
