MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Rhodes men's basketball team edged Hendrix College in a close, physical battle on Wednesday to open Southern Athletic Association play, 78-63.
 
The Lynx improve to 5-2 on the year and open league action with a 1-0 start. The Warriors fall to 2-3 on the year and begin conference with a 0-1 record.
 
Coach Mike DeGeorge's squad burst onto the scene with a quick 9-0 run to open the contest, with a pair of Geoff Livsey lay-ins, a Ryan Van Hoeck jumper and a Brennan Sullivan three pointer at the 17:15 mark.
 
The Lynx fought to keep their distance, and the Warriors edged in on their lead. After a six point swing, Rhodes posted a 15-9 lead with 13:01 to play in the half, after Luke Collins weaved through the defense to find the basket.
 
The persistent Warriors rode a 10-2 wave to take their first lead of the ball game at the 8:53 mark after an Alec Conard three made the count 21-19. Hendrix held on to the advantage for a brief moment, before the Lynx charged on an 11 point run to regain the lead with 4:19 to play. A Miller three to end the half gave the Lynx a 39-32 lead heading into the break.
 
Conard led all scored at the half way point with 10 points. Drew Nikolovski added six points to the Warriors totals. Rhodes was led by Sullivan and Miller who each netted nine points. Livsey and Tate Sledge each chipped in six points apiece.
 
Rhodes shot an impressive 56.5 percent from the field, with 57.1 coming from three-point land. The Warriors fired 52.0 percent from the field, with 55.6 from beyond the arc. Rhodes managed to force eight turnovers in the first half, with six team steals.
 
To open the second half of action, the teams traded buckets, with Hendrix working to edge closer to the Lynx. With help from a driven Collins, and a bundle of Livsey layups, the Lynx posted a 12-3 run to pull to a 59-46 lead by the 11:26 mark.
 
Rhodes never looked back, with pair of lay-in's from Matt Wagner and Tate Sledge giving them a 16 point lead, with 7:48 to play. The Lynx continued to pull ahead with a deep trey ball and a free-throw from Collins giving Rhodes a 71-53 edge by the 4:07 mark.
 
The Lynx defense held on, aided by the Rhodes reserves for the 78-63 win.
 
Livsey led all scorers with his 18 points, shooting 6-10 from the field and a flawless 6-6 from the free throw line. Collins worked into double figures with his 12 points, with Miller adding 11 to the Lynx totals. Luke Vance and Conard led the Warriors charge with 13 points each. Hank Aldous chipped in 11 points.
 
Rhodes held the Warriors to 48.9 percent shooting from the field, while Hendrix posted 50.0 percent from the three-point line. The Lynx fired 51.9 percent from the field on the contest, with six trey balls. Rhodes forced 18 turnovers out of the Warriors, which they capitalized into 23 points.
 
Rhodes will be back in action on Dec. 6 when they wrap of their home streak against Covenant College at 4 p.m.