GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — Lenoir-Rhyne center Conrad Luczynski scored a career-high 27 points including 19 in the second half as the 21st-ranked Bears edged Tusculum 87-82 Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Arena in South Atlantic Conference men’s basketball action.
Lenoir-Rhyne used a key 7-1 run over a span of 1:45 in the final minutes of the game to claim its seventh straight victory. Coupled with No. 4 Anderson’s road loss at UVA Wise, the Bears move into a tie for first place in the league standings with the Trojans. The Pioneers (7-9, 3-7 SAC) drops its fourth loss in a row.
Luczynski shot 8-of-11 from the floor and 11-of-12 from the free throw line. He finished with six rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals in his 32 minutes of action.
Tyler Burraston came off the bench with 21 points, all coming on his seven 3-pointers as he went 7-of-15 from downtown. Akii Evans added 10 points and seven assists, while Blessing Kimble notched 10 markers and five boards.
Tusculum junior Amari Allen had a career day with 20 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the year. Allen went 4-of-5 from three-point territory. Bryce Jackson scored 16 points as he went 4-of-5 from three-point land, TJ Printup added 13 points, four steals and two blocked shots, while sophomore Denaj Kimber matched a season-best with 10 points and a career-best two blocked shots.
Lenoir-Rhyne recorded 21 assists on its 26 made field goals while shooting 26-of-57 from the floor for 45.6 percent. LR also went 10-of-26 from three-point land and a sizzling 25-of-31 at the free throw line (80.6%).
Tusculum shot 27-of-67 for 40.3 percent including 16-of-29 from three-point territory for 55.2 percent.
LR took an early 9-6 lead following a layup by Evans at the 16:11 mark of the first half. Tusculum answered with an 11-0 run over the next five minutes thanks to three-pointers from Jackson, and the brother duo of Taj and Denaj Kimber for a 17-9 advantage with 11:29 remaining in the period.
But the Bears responded with a 12-2 spurt over a span of three minutes to cut the TU lead to 19-17 at the 8:13 mark.
Denaj Kimber followed with a three-pointer for Tusculum, but a layup by Luczynski and two Kimble free throws as the Pioneers led 22-21 with 5:05 left in the half.
Tusculum stretched the lead back to six (31-25) with a 9-4 run which was sparked by a four-point play by Malachi Hale.
But LR tied the game thanks to an 8-2 run as the Bears evened the score at 33-33. Burraston buried a pair of triples and Kimble made two free throws. Jackson hit a three for Tusculum, but Junior Hodnett answered with one of his own to tie it a 36-36 with 1:01 left in the first period.
Allen and Kimble traded layups down the stretch as the score was deadlocked at 38-38 at the half.
LR scored the first four points of the second half and maintained a lead for the opening minutes of the period before Allen hit a step-back three-pointer to tie the game at 46-46 with 15:55.
With the Bears up 48-46, Tusculum went on a 9-2 spurt to lead 55-50 with 12:35 remaining. Printup nailed a triple, Denaj Kimber converted a steal and J3 Swindell hit two free throws during the run.
Lenoir-Rhyne scored six in a row to retake the lead thanks to a Luczynski three-point play and a Hodnett triple as the Bears led 56-55 with 11:24 to go.
Swindell answered with a three-pointer to retake the lead by Luczynski hit a jumper in the paint to tie the game at 58-58 with 10:48 on the clock.
LR went on a 7-2 run to stretch the lead to five at 65-60 with Luczynski converting another three-point play. Allen hit a triple for Tusculum, but Burraston answered immediately with a three-ball of his own.
TU trimmed the LR lead to one a hook shot by Damjan Vukcevic and a dunk by Printup as the Bears were up 68-67 with eight minutes to go.
Lenoir-Rhyne went on a 7-0 spurt over the next 2:09 to extend the lead to 75-67 with 5:31 remaining, capped off by a Burraston three-pointer.
Allen followed with his fourth 3-pointer of the night for his 20th point, but LR’s Julian Dozier canned a floating jumper as the Bears led 77-70 with 4:43 on the scoreboard.
TU’s Wesley Johnson hit a three-pointer as the LR advantage was whittled down to 77-73 with 4:13 to go. Both teams would go scoreless until Kimble broke the drought making one of two free throws as the Bears led 78-73 with 2:34 remaining.
On the next possession, Jackson dribbled around a screen for a step-back triple as the Pioneers trailed 78-76 with 2:34 on the clock.
But 18 seconds later Burraston hit his seventh 3-pointer of the game for an 81-76 lead. Luczynski would force turnover and would draw a foul. He would make one of two free throws as the Bears led 82-76 with 2:03 to go.
Tusculum would get off three shots on its next trip of the floor but was able to get a foul. But a pair of missed throws capped off the empty trip up the floor with 1:39 remaining and trailing by six.
Vukcevic came up with his fourth blocked shot of the game as TU came down with the rebound as Jackson drew a foul with 1:01 on the clock. He would make one of his two free throws as Tusculum would foul with 40 seconds to go. Evans would miss the first free throw but made the second as LR led 83-77.
Tusculum would be charged with a turnover on its next possession with 27 seconds left. Dozier would be fouled as he made a pair of free throws with 21 seconds to go. Jackson hit a layup to make it a two-possession game at 85-79 with 11 seconds left. But Dozier would make two more free throws and Jackson hit a triple before the buzzer to provide the final margin of victory for the Bears at 87-82.
The Pioneers will be back in action on Wednesday when they host Emory & Henry for a 7:30 p.m. contest.
