Irving, Texas ~ The Rhodes Men's Basketball closed 2009 out in style with a 63-52 road victory over the University of Dallas on Saturday. With the victory the Lynx moved to 5-5 on the season and garnered a season split with the Crusaders. Each team won on each other's home court.
Senior Larry Cunningham, JR. (St. Charles, MO) opened up the scoring with a transition layup at the 18:47 mark of the first half, but the Lynx would not be able to score for the next two minutes. Fortunately for the Lynx, their defense was strong allowing the Crusaders just a two free throws through the first five minutes of the game. A jumper by Andrew Galow (Oswego, IL) gave the Lynx a 7-2 lead. The Crusaders' first field goal came at the 15 minute mark in the second half, cutting the Rhodes lead to three points at 7-4. A corner three pointer by Reid Hamilton (Birmingham, AL) gave the Lynx a 12-7 lead, but Dallas ran off five straight to tie the game at 12 with 13:16 to play. Neither team gained control for the next ten minutes. With Dallas leading 25-23 with just four minutes left in the opening stanza, Rhodes' Andyshea Saberioon (Houston, TX)knocked down a three pointer to give the Lynx a short lived one point lead. The Crusaders closed out the first half scoring six of the final nine points giving them a two point halftime advantage.
Rhodes got a stop on its opening defensive possession and a jumper by Hamilton tied the score at 31. Following a Dallas basket, Saberioon's three pointer at the 17:15 mark gave the Lynx a one point advantage that they would never relinquish. Brad Luckett (Cordova, TN) scored on the next possession to widen the margin to four points and the Lynx then scored eight of the next ten points and held a 12 point lead with under 10 minutes to play. The run was highlighted by back to back three pointers by senior Chris Eberle (Cincinnati, OH) and junior Josh Arant (Charlotte, NC). Dallas never got the lead under seven points the rest of the way and Rhodes maintained close to a double digit lead the rest of the way as their defense remained strong the entire second half, allowing Dallas to connect on just 28% from the field in the half.
For the game the Lynx had four players reach the double digit mark with Hamilton leading the way with 15 points. Saberioon and Galow had 13 and 10 respectively. Luckett scored 11 off the bench for the Lynx. Rhodes held a major advantage on the glass, outrebounding the Crusaders 45-27. Kory Kilpatrick (Athens, GA) led the Lynx with 8 rebounds with five other players grabbing five rebounds or more. Rhodes shot 46% from the field and 53% from three point. The Lynx defense was outstanding as they held the Crusaders to just 33% from the field and 23% from three point on the game.
Rhodes will be off for the remainder of the holidays. The Lynx will return to action as they open the 2010 year with a pair of SCAC road games against Sewanee and Oglethorpe on January 1st and 3rd, respectively.
BOX SCORE
