MEMPHIS - Six Rhodes College men's basketball student-athletes scored in double figures while forcing 27 turnovers as the Lynx used a dominant second half to defeat Wilmington, 124-113, on Saturday afternoon at Mallory Gymnasium.

Rhodes shot a resounding 50.6% from the field on 42 of 83 shooting including 15 of 39 (38.5%) from deep. Rhodes also had a nice day at the free throw line, going 25-for-34 (73.5%).

The Lynx fans in attendance were in for a treat with the Rhodes new high tempo fun-and-gun offense along with suffocating defense as they forced 27 turnovers. Rhodes was also dominant in the rebounding department at 48-34.

After jumping out to a 4-0 lead, Rhodes went on a 10-0 run thanks in part to a three from freshman Jake Nestlehutt as well as buckets from freshman Kendrick Ashby, senior Andrew Lowrie, and freshman Bryce Berry. After a bucket from the Quakers, a three from Lowrie and a basket from senior Tyler Gee gave Rhodes a 15-6 lead.

Wilmington got it down to four, but another three from Nestlehutt pushed the lead back out to seven. The two teams would respond back and forth before five straight points from Gee and another three from Nestlehutt gave Rhodes a 30-20 lead with 11:37 to play in the first. However, a 12-2 run tied the game at 32.

Rhodes kept building a lead, but Wilmington kept responding to come back and tie it before they finally took the lead at at 55-53 with 1:25 to play in the half.

LIVE on #Periscope: Postgame - @RhodesLynxMBB def. Wilmington to open season https://t.co/LnbRvSd5Hl

— Tyler Springs (@SpringsOnSports) November 19, 2016

Wilmington led 59-57 with four second to play, but senior J.J. Weir went coast to coast and laid it in at the buzzer to tie the game at 59 going into half.

Early in the second half, with the game tied at 66, Rhodes went on a 12-2 run behind five points from freshman Nick de Feria and a three from senior Brennan Sullivan to go ahead 78-68. Rhodes continued to get great offensive play, but the Quakers kept chipping away at the deficit.

Wilmington got it down to four, but five straight points from junior Anesu Nywada pushed the lead back out to 86-77. 

Again, the Quakers got it back down to two, but as all game, Rhodes came away with a big shot when needed as freshmen Owen Galvin and Nestlehutt converted on back-to-back 3's to go ahead 92-86.

As Wilmington got it back down to two with 7:57 to play, Berry and Nywada each converted on 3's, one the old fashion way and one from deep to go ahead 100-94. A three by Sullivan after a basket from Wilmington pushed the lead to seven.

The Quakers made one final push, getting it back down to three with 5:23 to go, but a layup from Gee and a three from de Feria got the lead to seven. As Wilmington kept trying to claw back in, Rhodes kept hitting big shots as a three point dagger from Lowrie with under two to play all but sealed the win.

Sullivan had 18 on the night including 15 in the second half while Gee notched a double-double with 17 points on 7-for-8 shooting, 10 boards, and five steals. Nywada had 13 points while Nestlehutt had 12 on four threes. Galvin and Lowrie each had 10 points with Lowrie going 4-for-4 from the field including two deep balls.

Sophomore Daniel Darst had a career-high 10 assists while freshman Mitch Weatherford had seven. Berry and Darst each had three steals a piece while junior Ian Harrison pulled down eight boards and freshman Preston Giroux added seven including some key stops in the second half.

Rhodes moves to 1-0 and will move on to the championship game of the Rhodes Tip-Off Tournament as they take on a tough East Texas Baptist team. The Tigers defeated Huntingdon in the first matchup of the day, 112-69. Huntingdon will battle Wilmington at 1 followed the Tigers and Lynx at 3 PM.