BANNER ELK, N.C. – Behind a career-high 36 points from Jerick Haynes, the Lees-McRae College men's basketball team knocked off North Greenville by a 100-91 final score in its regular season home finale Wednesday night at Williams Gymnasium. The win not only improves Lees-McRae's record to 17-9 overall and 10-8 conference play but it also marks the 100th win for Head Coach Steve Hardin as Lees-McRae's Head Coach.
Balance and long distance shooting were key for the Bobcats against the Crusaders in the first half. Lees-McRae saw nine players score points in the first 20 minutes. Not only were the Bobcats scoring, they were knocking down shots from long range. Lees-McRae connected on 11 three-pointers with five coming from Haynes who netted a team-high 17 points in the first half. Thanks to these two factors, Lees-McRae took a 52-40 lead into the halftime break.
Facing a double digit deficit, North Greenville netted 51 points in the second half in a comeback attempt. NGU was able to trim the Bobcat lead down to seven points at one juncture in the second half but that's as close as they would get as the Bobcats finished off the 100-91 win over North Greenville to snap a three-game losing skid.
In addition to Haynes's 36-point outing, three other Bobcats finished the night in double figures. Andrew Gardner was the only other starter other than Haynes to reach double figures with 15 points. Off the bench, Anthony Hicks added 10 points and Timon Jones netted career-high 14 points. Facilitating the Bobcat offense for a large portion of the night was Kamil Williams, who finished with a career-high 10 assists. Additionally, the Bobcats shot an impressive 60.7 percent from three-point range, which marks the third time this season the team has shot 60 percent or better from beyond the arc in a game.
The Bobcats will be back in action on Saturday when they visit Chowan in another key Conference Carolinas contest. Tip-off between Lees-McRae and Chowan is set for 4 p.m.
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