Central, SC - The Southern Wesleyan University Warriors Men's Basketball team played their home opener on Saturday afternoon as they took on the Lenoir-Rhyne University Bears. 

Che Smith led the team with 18 points followed by Reco Hallmon with 14 points and Dyren Brown with nine points. As a team, the Warriors shot 23-61 (37.7%) from the field, 6-19 (31.6&) from downtown, and 8-18 (44.4%) from the free throw line. SWU dominated the turnover margin, forcing 18 Bear turnovers while only having 10 themselves. Smith recorded four steals and Hallmon three recorded steals. The Warriors pulled down 33 total rebounds, led by Hallmon with nine, Aaron Tims with six, and Brown with five.



Game Vitals:

Final Score: Southern Wesleyan University 60, Lenoir-Rhyne University 75

Records: Southern Wesleyan University (0-5), Lenoir-Rhyne University (3-2) 



How It Happened:

Coach Hewitt deployed his 4th different starting lineup in to start the 5th game of the season: going with Che Smith, Raevon Allen, Reco Hallmon, Aaron Tims, and Dyren Brown. Smith opened the scoring on Saturday with a pull-up three following a Dyren Brown assist. Lenoir-Rhyne's Nas Tyson quickly answered with a layup to make it 3-2, which would be the Warrior's last lead of the game coming at the 17:17 mark in the First Half. The Bears were extremely hot from beyond the arc in the period, allowing them to quickly build their lead. They made nine of their 13 first-half 3-point attempts and got 20 bench points, each of which was boosted by 12 points on 4-4 3-point shooting from senior forward Tim Steele. Steele's step-back three at the buzzer along with the Warriors being held scoreless for the final 4:27 meant Lenoir-Rhyne led 40-18 at the break. 

However, the Warriors did come out of the locker room with some energy and fight. They went on a quick 8-0 starting with two Che Smith free throws and ending with a Reco Hallmon transition layup to make it a 44-28 game at the under sixteen timeout. They also had some success with their on-ball pressure forcing more Bear turnovers. Smith was the architect of that pressure along with Raevon Allen. Coach Hewitt mixed defensive looks between full-court man-to-man and a full-court 2-1-2 zone with trapping in the back court. They were the better team in the second half, outscoring the Bears 42-35 and knocking down 4 more threes but they could never get the lead back down to single digits. It got as close as 11 after made threes in back-to-back possessions from Eric Hackett, but Lenoir-Rhyne did a great job of knocking down their free throws late to seal the victory and keep the Warriors win less on the year.  



What's Next:

The Warriors mini home stand continues on Wednesday, November 29th, when they host Georgia College at 7:00 PM. After that, they will travel to UNC Pembroke for their Conference Carolinas opener on Saturday, December 2nd.