BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Rhodes men's basketball team fell on the road on Friday in Southern Athletic Association action, 75-70 to Birmingham Southern College.
 
The Lynx fall to 13-4 on the season and 6-1 in league play, while the Panther improve to 12-6 and 4-3 in conference play.
 
The Panthers opened the contest with a pair of buckets to take an early 4-0 lead. The Lynx made quick work of erasing their deficit, and knotted the contest at 4-4 after back-to-back layups from Luke Collins and Ryan Van Hoeck at the 16:07 mark.
 
After falling behind again, Rhodes used a Keyshawn Butts trey to take a 13-10 lead with 13:16 to play in the half. The pattern continued, as the Lynx had to mount another comeback, and did so successfully, taking the lead at 23-18 with a pair of three's from Drew Miller and Brennan Sullivan at the 5:11 mark.
 
After a BSC charge down the stretch, another Miller three to close the half gave the Lynx a 32-29 edge heading into the break.
 
At the half, Van Hoeck led the Lynx with seven points. Rhodes had a balanced scoring attack, with Geoff Livsey, Sullivan and Miller all with six points at the midway mark. Rhodes shot 43.3 percent from the field, and 41.7 from beyond the arc.
 
The Panthers were led by Larry Thomas, who had nine points, followed by Alex Avery who added seven points. BSC shot a first half field goal percentage of 50.0 percent, and notched 40.0 percent from three point range.
 
Coming out of the break, the Panthers surged to take the lead in the opening minutes after a 7-0 run to take a 36-34 advantage at the 17:12 mark. The Lynx struggled to catch up to BSC, but by the 11 minute mark, took a 52-49 lead after a pair of buckets from Livsey and Miller, and a three from Miller.
 
The Lynx again saw their lead diminish, when the Panthers knotted the contest at 58-58 with 8:36 to play. Battle ensued, and Miller knocked down a layup to give Rhodes the 64-63 lead with 3:42 to play.
 
Rhodes struggled to break through the Panther defense, and after BSC took a three-point lead with 2:57 to play, Rhodes had a tough time overcoming the deficit. After both squads traded fouls and free throw shots, the Lynx had one last look at a three to send the game into overtime, but the deep ball wouldn't fall, and the Lynx fell 75-70.
 
Miller totaled 22 points in the outing, to go with six rebounds and five assists.  Livsey added 18 points to seven rebounds and two assists. Van Hoeck and Collins each finished with eight. In the contest, the Lynx shot 43.3 percent from the field, and 30.4 from beyond the arc.
 
The Panthers scoring was led by Thomas, who finished with a game-high 23 points paired with seven rebounds. Avery and Evan Lewis each netted 13 points. BSC posted 48.7 percent shooting from the field and warmed up to a 41.2 three point shooting percentage.
 
Rhodes will be back in action on Feb. 1 against Millsaps College at 3 p.m.