Memphis, Tennessee ~ Rhodes College overcame a Thanksgiving hangover in the first half to coast to a 92-63 victory over visiting Principia College. Rhodes placed five players in double digits and dished out a season high 23 assists in route to the victory.

Rhodes scored on their opening possession of a bucket by senior Reid Hamilton (Birmingham, AL). On the next possession, Kory Kilpatrick (Athens, GA) knocked down a three and a jumper by senior Andyshea Saberioon (Houston, TX) gave the Lynx an early 7-3 lead. A Principia bucket at the 15 minute mark tied the game at 11and the game was close due in a large part to Principia's torrid three point shooting (7-17 in the half). Brad Luckett (Cordova, TN) scored at the 10 minute mark to give the Lynx a small four point lead, but Principia knocked in another trey to cut it to one. Rhodes again built a slim five point margin only to see the Panthers tie the game at 25 with just less than six minutes to play in the half. Two free throws by each Hamilton and Saberioon gave the Lynx the lead for good as they built a six point lead going into locker rooms at halftime.

The first three minutes of the second half each team traded baskets with Lynx up 46-41 at the 17 minute mark but a 12-3 run over the next five minutes of play built the lead to 14 points and the Lynx continued to pour it on. A bucket by Luckett off an assist by Josh Arant (Charlotte, NC) pushed the Lynx lead to 20 points at the 8:40 mark. A baseline dunk by Andrew Sillyman (Cordova, TN) put the Lynx up by 26. With lead safely in hand, the Lynx emptied their bench and the freshman got some quality minutes. Guards Jonathan Smith (Cordova, TN) and Reid Cates (Martin, TN) each knocked down their three point attempts and forward Theo Hartwell (Charleston, SC) recorded a block and two points.

Larry Cunningham, JR. (St. Charles, MO) led all Lynx scorers with 16 points. Luckett had 14 to go along with Hamilton and Andrew Galow's (Oswego, IL) 12 points. Saberioon rounded out the Lynx double digit scorers with 11 points. Rhodes held a commanding 37-20 advantage on the boards with Kilpatrick leading the way, with a game high 7 rebounds. Both Galow and Saberioon handed out 6 assists. Rhodes overcame a poor three point shooting night to shoot 58.3% from the field (75% from inside the arc) and knocked down 17 of 22 free throw attempts.

Rhodes will back in action tomorrow at 3pm in the final game of the Thanksgiving Classic by Hampton Inn ~ Poplar. The 1pm game will feature Principia taking on Sewanee. 

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