Hickory, N.C.----The Wingate University Bulldogs trimmed a 14-point deficit down to one late in the second half Wednesday night, but the Lenoir-Rhyne University Bears held on for a 75-70 victory in South Atlantic Conference men's basketball action. The Bears move to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the SAC, while the Bulldogs fall to 2-1 overall and 0-1 in league play.

KEY STATS

- LR shot 49 percent from the field; Wingate shot 44 percent
- The Bears hit eight-of-30 threes; the 'Dogs were seven-for-21 from deep
- The Bulldogs held a 36-28 rebounding advantage and 9-0 edge in second-chance points
- LR converted 18 Wingate turnovers into 21 points
- The Bears had 12 steals compared to Wingate's five
- Lenoir-Rhyne had the only three blocked shots of the night
- Wingate went 17-for-22 at the free throw line; LR was nine-for-11
- WU shot 48 percent from the field in the second half while LR shot 38 percent in the final 20 minutes

KEY BULLDOGS

- Jarren Cottingham had 24 points and six rebounds, hitting three-of-seven threes and nine-of-11 free throws
- Sean Elmore scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half, adding four rebounds while hitting four-of-seven threes
- Vontrez Roberts contributed 13 points and five rebounds
- Donell Nixon had eight points, four assists and four rebounds

FIRST HALF

- LR scored the first 12 points, with a Jalen Johnson layup at the 16:53 mark making it 12-0
- Cottingham hit two triples and a pair of free throws to trim the lead to five with 12:16 left
- Cooper Fowler's layup at the midway point put the Bears on top 26-13
- Three Cottingham free throws cut the lead to 10, but Johnson's bucket made it 32-18
- A Roberts bucket and two Cottingham free throws trimmed the deficit to nine at the 3:07 mark
- Kevin Kangu's triple in the final seconds gave Lenoir-Rhyne a 46-34 halftime lead

SECOND HALF

- Kangu's layup put the Bears on top by 14 less than four minutes into the second half
- Wingate used a 7-0 run, cutting the lead to six at the midway point on a Cottingham three
- A Malik Legania layup with 9:12 to go put Lenoir-Rhyne on top 60-50
- An Elmore layup and Nixon bucket cut the lead to five with just under seven minutes left
- Elmore knocked down two more threes to make it 65-63 at the 4:54 mark
- Two Johnson free throws put the Bears on top by four with 2:30 remaining
- Elmore answered with another three to pull the 'Dogs within one just 15 seconds later
- Nixon answered an LR bucket with a layup at the 1:16 mark to make it 69-68
- Kangu buried a triple with 52 seconds left to extend the LR lead back to four
- Cottingham's layup with 31 seconds to go cut the lead in half
- Tyson McClain knocked down a three with six seconds left to give LR the 75-70 advantage

UP NEXT

- Wingate is back in action Saturday, hosting LMU at 4 p.m.