MEMPHIS - The Rhodes College men's basketball team held a 29-24 advantage at the half, but the Birmingham-Southern Panthers shot 67% including four threes in the second half to roar back, outscoring Rhodes 46-30 in the half and coming away with a 70-59 win.

Rhodes shot 22-for-47 (46.8%) from the field and 4-for-10 (40.0%) from deep, but struggled at the charity stripe, finishing 11-for-23 (47.8%) at the line. BSC overcame a poor shooting first half to finish 22-for-45 (48.9%) from the field and 7-for-13 (53.8%) from downtown. The two teams took care of the ball relatively well as Rhodes turned it over 12 times to BSC's 11 while the Panthers held a 32-28 advantage in rebounds.

With the Lynx down 8-5 early on, Rhodes went on an 11-0 run thanks to five straight points from junior Brennan Sullivan followed by back-to-back threes from juniors Keyshawn Butts and JJ Weir. The Lynx got everybody involved to control the first half lead as Sullivan and juniors Andrew Lowrie and Daniel Galvin all scored five points. Rhodes also got it down defensively, holding the Panthers to 8-for-24 shooting from the field.

Rhodes led 29-21 close to the half, but a second chance opportunity gave BSC a three towards the end of the half and the made shot seemed to give the Panthers momentum going into the break, despite being down by five.

After both teams exchanged buckets with Rhodes leading 31-26, BSC exploded on a 12-0 run, forcing the Lynx into five turnovers throughout the run to suddenly lead 38-31. Both teams would run into foul trouble throughout the half, but the Panthers proceeded to go 14-for-20 (70.0%) in the second half while free throw woes continued to haunt the Lynx as they went 6-for-13 (46.2%). 

After the big run, Rhodes got as close as four midway through the second half and five with under seven minutes remaining. However, the top team in the Southern Athletic Association proved to be too much as they closed the game strong, going up by double digits, and finish the game out with a road win, 70-59.

Sullivan finished with 14 points and four assists while junior Tyler Gee added 13 points and 12 boards. Galvin added seven points, five boards, and two blocks while Lowrie added seven points as well. Rhodes, who has been one of the top teams in the conference in steals at 8.2/gm, only came away with two on the night from freshman Daniel Darst and sophomore Price Dalton. Weir also had four assists on the night.

For BSC, Alex Avery led the way with 17 points, eight boards, five assists, and one block while Harrison Deneka had a great homecoming to Memphis, finishing with 15 points and three steals.

Rhodes moves to 9-9 on the year and 3-4 in SAA play. They will return to action on Sunday, completing their five game home stand with Millsaps College. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m.