Mars Hill Men's Basketball downs Lenoir-Rhyne, 86-74

MARS HILL, N.C. - Donterious Hughes and Sammy Emile scored 24 and 21 points, respectively, to lift the Mars Hill men's basketball team over Lenoir-Rhyne by a final of 86-74. The Lions improve to 4-2 overall, 1-0 in the South Atlantic Conference. The Bears fall to 1-5 overall, 0-1 in the league.

Hughes hit a 3-pointer to give Mars Hill a 29-24 lead with 5:58 remaining in the first half.

Mars Hill took a 36-35 lead into halftime. The Lions shot 61.5 percent from behind the arc (8-13) in the first period.

Emile had 12 points before halftime and was 4-5 from behind the arc. Allan Jones and Jeff Thomas each pumped in 11 points for Lenoir-Rhyne.

In the first period, Lenoir-Rhyne outscored Mars Hill, 22-6, in the paint and 11-1 off second chance points. The Lions' bench outscored the Bears' reserves, 16-7.

Dion Malachi added 15 points and three blocks in the game for Mars Hill.

Thomas led Lenoir-Rhyne with a team-high 18 points and seven rebounds. Jones finished the day with 14 points.

Mars Hill outscored Lenoir-Rhyne, 50-39, in the second half to push the game out of reach. In the second half, the Lions outscored the Bears in the paint, 30-20.

Mars Hill will host Shaw on Tuesday. Tipoff from Stanford Arena is set for 8 p.m.

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