Lenoir-Rhyne Beats Tusculum 59-45 to Claim SAC Men's Basketball Regular Season Title
February 25, 2006

Courtesy Lenoir-Rhyne College Sports Information Office

HICKORY, N.C. --- Josh Kindred scored 14 points as Lenoir-Rhyne College claimed the 2005-06 South Atlantic Conference men's basketball championship with a 59-45 win over visiting Tusculum College Saturday night at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium. The Bears (17-9, 11-3 SAC) sweep the season series over the Pioneers (13-14, 4-10 SAC) while recording its 10th straight win at home.

Kindred made all seven of his field goal attempts, while hauling in five rebounds. Josh Rudder added seven points, six rebounds and six assists, while Tyler Boardman tallied seven markers and six boards.

The Pioneers were led by Douglas Tshomba's 14-point effort, while Chris Poore tallied a dozen points and four rebounds. Jordan Lear accounted for eight points and a game-high seven rebounds in the loss.

The Bears opened the game with a 20-4 run in the first eight minutes, including 11 unanswered points. L-R jumped out to its biggest lead at 24-7 following a lay-up by Marcus Springs at the 7:24 mark of the first period. Tusculum closed the half with an 8-2 run, including Tshomba's three-pointer with three seconds left before intermission as the Pioneers trailed 26-15 at the break.

Tusculum cut the deficit to single digits at 26-17 following a pair of free throws by Donald Sexton with 19:27 remaining. But the Bears maintained its distance throughout most of the period and moved out to a 46-30 advantage after David Lawson's three-pointer with 6:19 left. TC would cut into lead with a 14-6 spurt as Poore and Tshomba canned consecutive lay-ups as L-R led 52-44 with 1:34 left. That would be as close as the Pioneers would get as the Bears claimed its sixth SAC Championship in school history and third in the last four years.

The Pioneers will be on the road for a first round game in next week's Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament. Tusculum is the defending SAC Tournament Champions. Official brackets and seeding will be announced by the league office on Sunday.

LENOIR-RHYNE 59, TUSCULUM 45

TUSCULUM (13-14, 4-10) Tshomba, Douglas 5-8 3-4 14; Poore, Chris 5-9 2-4 12; Lear, Jordan 1-7 6-8 8; White, Tyler 3-3 0-1 7; Sexton, Donald 0-6 4-6 4; Farus, Matt 0-3 0-0 0; Story, Gabe 0-1 0-0 0; Poppe, Serge 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 14-38 15-23 45.

LENOIR-RHYNE (17-9, 11-3) Kindred, Josh 7-7 0-1 14; Bratton, Reggie 5-14 1-2 12; Hinds, Stephen 3-4 0-0 7; Boardman, Tyler 2-4 3-4 7; Springs, Marcus 3-9 0-0 7; Rudder, Josh 1-3 5-6 7; Lawson, David 1-3 0-0 3; Watson, Donte 1-4 0-1 2; Brown, A.J. 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-49 9-14 59.

Tusculum...................... 15 30 - 45 
Lenoir-Rhyne.................. 26 33 - 59

3-point goals-Tusculum 2-14 (Tshomba, Douglas 1-3; White, Tyler 1-1; Lear, Jordan 0-3; Sexton, Donald 0-5; Farus, Matt 0-1; Poppe, Serge 0-1), Lenoir-Rhyne 4-10 (Hinds, Stephen 1-2; Springs, Marcus 1-3; Bratton, Reggie 1-1; Lawson, David 1-3; Brown, A.J. 0-1). Fouled out--Tusculum-Poore, Chris, Lenoir-Rhyne-None. Rebounds-Tusculum 27 (Lear, Jordan 7), Lenoir-Rhyne 29 (Boardman, Tyler 6; Rudder, Josh 6). Assists-Tusculum 7 (Sexton, Donald 2; Poore, Chris 2; Lear, Jordan 2), Lenoir-Rhyne 15 (Rudder, Josh 6). Total fouls-Tusculum 17, Lenoir-Rhyne 18. A-1105