Box Score HARROGATE, Tenn. – Playing in the NCAA Tournament for the second time, the King University men's basketball team knew they were in for a challenge when they squared off with seventh seed Lenoir-Rhyne University. The Bears made a run in the first half, and held a sizable advantage until midway through the second half when King made a run, taking a lead with six minutes left. King led 74-71 with three minutes remaining, but the Bears closed on a 12-4 run, including a key triple as Lenoir-Rhyne took the upset win 83-79.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: No. 7 Lenoir-Rhyne 83, King 79
LOCATION: Tex Turner Arena; Harrogate, Tenn.
RECORDS: King 25-7; Lenoir-Rhyne 20-9
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Drew Standifer hit three free throws to get King on the board before Mack Owens made a layup and drilled a triple, giving King an 8-4 lead.
- Owens made another jump shot, this one from the paint, giving King a 12-6 lead before the Bear three-point shooters started to get hot.
- Will Perry drilled three straight triples, and following a Darrion Evan layup, Perry connected again from long range. The last triple gave Lenoir-Rhyne a 14-0 run and a 20-12 advantage eight minutes in.
- Mikquell Jackson ended the Bears' run with a pair of buckets as he tried to get the Tornado offense going.
- The Bears stretched their lead to 12 before the Tornado started to chip away. King scored nine straight points, cutting their deficit to 34-31 following a James Scales three-point play with two minutes remaining in the half.
- However, Perry answered with a triple to extend the Bear lead.
- King looked to go to halftime down 39-34 following a Jackson bucket, but Lawrence Miller drilled a triple as time expired, giving the Bears a 42-34 lead at the break.
- Lenoir-Rhyne held their lead around 10 points over the first half of the second stanza, holding their largest lead of the game at 13 points twice.
- The second time came with 14 minutes remaining before Hunter LeVeau drilled back-to-back triples in an effort to get King going.
- Derick Pope made a jump shot and two free throws before Scales hit two free throws that put King within 61-58 midway through the half.
- Je'Don Young then connected from long range, evening the score with the 9-0 run for the Tornado.
- However, just as they did all night, the Bears had an answer as Keenan Palmore converted a bucket on the other end of the floor.
- King earned their first lead since early in the first half when Owens drilled a triple with 5:39 remaining, putting King ahead 69-68.
- The teams then went back-and-forth for the remainder of the game.
- LeVeau gave King a 74-71 lead with back-to-back jump shots, but the Bears answered with four straight points to regain the lead.
- Jackson put the Tornado ahead 78-77 when he hit a pair of free throws with 1:09 remaining.
- It appeared as the Tornado were going to get a stop on the next possession, but Reed Lucas found JacQues Chambers on the baseline who drilled a triple, putting Lenoir-Rhyne up two.
- King couldn't rebound from that as the Bears took the game 83-79.
- LeVeau led King with 20 points to go along with four rebounds.
- Owens followed with 16 points and seven rebounds.
- Pope added 10 points and eight rebounds.
- Seniors Jackson and Scales scored 10 points apiece in their final game in the scarlet and navy.
- Calvin Walker dished out a team-high five assists in his final game.
FOR THE FOES
- The Bears, the top three-point shooting team in the country nearly made their season average, connecting on 12 long range shots. For the game they shot 46.2 percent from long range.
- Perry led the Bears with 23 points while Chambers and Palmore scored 16 points apiece.
- Lucas chipped in with 10 points, three rebounds and three assists.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- For the Tornado, seven seniors played their final game on Saturday afternoon. Jackson and Scales both scored 10 points while Walker handed out five assists.
- Nathanael Hughes grabbed an offensive rebound and got the putback in the first half for two points.
- Standifer scored five points and grabbed four rebounds.
- Jordan Omogbehin and Forrest Stuart also saw time for the Tornado in their final contest.
- King ends the season with a record of 25-7, winning the Conference Carolinas regular season and tournament titles.
