HICKORY, N.C. - Lenoir-Rhyne junior Darrion Evans' 3-pointer from deep in the right corner with 7.5 seconds left in the game proved to be the game-winner, as the Bears outlasted Anderson, 83-80, in South Atlantic Conference men's basketball action, Saturday afternoon at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium.

Anderson (5-9, 3-5 SAC) saw its win streak halted at two, while Lenoir-Rhyne improved to 10-3 overall and 5-3 in the league with its second win in three gamers.

Led by freshman Randall Shaw's 24 points, four Trojans reached double figures, with sophomore Maurice Howard adding 13 points and junior Lex Davis tallying 12 points and seven rebounds. Junior center Rakish Taylor posted his fifth double-double of the season with 10 points and a game-high 11 boards. Freshman forward Jeremy Bouton handed out a team-high four assists.

The Bears' Keenan Palmore, a transfer from Old Dominion, tallied a game-high 28 points and eight assists, with Evans adding 12 points and Rob Noyes notching 11 points in 24 minutes.

AU edged the Bears, 40-39, on the boards and outscored Lenoir-Rhyne, 40-36, in the paint, while L-R's bench outscored the Trojan reserves, 25-17.

The score was tied nine times on the afternoon, including seven times in the first half, and the contest saw 12 lead changes.

With the Bears holding a 14-7 lead at the 15:25 mark of the opening half, AU's Marquez Fisher sparked a 12-4 run with four straight points that saw the Trojans take a 19-18 edge, as Howard capped the surge with five consecutive points. The score was knotted two more times over the next three minutes, before Lenoir-Rhyne's Evans knocked down back-to-back treys to give the Bears a 29-23 lead with 8:38 left in the opening frame.

The Trojans answered with a 14-3 scoring outburst that saw the Black and Gold claim a 37-32 advantage, with Tre' Fields posting all five of his points on the afternoon during a three-minute span. But the Bears closed the half with a 10-4 spurt that saw L-R claim a 42-41 halftime edge.

Neither team was able to build more than a four-point lead until AU snapped a 53-53 tie with another 13-2 outburst, with Shaw connecting on a pair of 3-pointers during the breakout. The 11-point margin marked the Trojans' largest lead of the game with 9:34 left on the clock. Lenoir-Rhyne chipped away and pulled within 75-72 on a layup by Palmore at the 3:16 mark. Davis countered with a 3-pointer from the right wing 32 seconds later, but the basket marked AU's final field goal of the game, as Howard followed with two free throws to boost the Trojans advantage to 80-72 with 2:12 left.

Following a layup by L-R's Noyes, the Trojans committed three turnovers and misfired on the front end of a one-and-one over the next 49 seconds that enabled the Bears to pull within 80-78 and set up Evans' late heroics. AU was unable to convert on a heavily-contested attempt to score a go-ahead basket with four seconds on the clock and L-R's Will Perry connected on two free throws with less than a second left to set the final score.

Anderson will get back in action Wednesday, when the Trojans travel to Harrogate, Tenn., for an 8 p.m. tip-off versus the league-leading and 19th-ranked Railsplitters.