Rhodes Men's Basketball had an impressive weekend to start the month of December, playing back-to-back games against Hendrix College on Saturday and Huntingdon College on Sunday. The Lynx were able to play great team basketball in both games, bringing the energy needed to play games in back-to-back days. The Lynx defeated Hendrix in Conway, Arkansas, 79-70, then returned home to Mallory Gymnasium and defeated Huntingdon in blowout fashion, 109-89.
In Conway on Saturday afternoon, the Lynx found themselves down after the first half, 31-37. The Lynx found a new spark after halftime, though, coming into the 2nd half and retying the game within 2 minutes with buckets from Zavien Williams, Phil Dotson, and Arness Georgetown. The Lynx continued strong in the rest of the half, ultimately outsourcing the Warriors 48-33, bringing home the Lynx victory 79-70. This game was truly back and forth, as the game was tied 11 times, and the lead changed 9 separate times.
Game leaders against Hendrix included Phil Dotson with 35 points, Cass Ramberg with 8 rebounds, and a tie between Dotson, Williams, and Georgetown with 3 assists. Williams also recorded 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals. Freshman guard Trevor Lombard scored 11 points, going 4/5 on field goals and 3/4 on threes. Rhodes beat Hendrix in many important categories in this game, outscoring Hendrix 19-11 on points off turnovers and 20-16 in bench points. However, the statistic that truly helped Rhodes seal the victory was fast break points, in which they outscored Hendrix 27-4.
The Lynx carried the energy from Saturday into the home game on Sunday, a game in which they quickly pulled ahead of Huntingdon and never looked back. Only 7 minutes into the game, Rhodes was already up 10 points, 24-14. Arness Georgetown finished the 1st half with 6 threes, and Phil Dotson finished with 3 threes. This hot shooting from the Lynx helped the Lynx go into halftime up big, 59-39. The Lynx stayed up big in the second half, too, tying the Hawks in scoring 50-50 while getting some young players key minutes. Freshman forward Shawn Jones Jr. had a huge impact for the Lynx, going 7/9 from the floor and 10/11 from the free throw line, while dropping 4 separate and-1 buckets on his way to 24 points.
Sophomore Phil Dotson again led the Lynx in total scoring and assists, dropping 30 and 6. His performance this weekend earned him back-to-back SAA Player of the Week honors. Arness Georgetown also had a huge game, dropping 25 on 15/20 shooting from the field. Shawn Jones led the Lynx in rebounds with 9, and Trevor Lombard recorded 8. Mike Wagner recorded 2 blocks.
This 109-89 Lynx win was a total team effort and brought the Lynx to an even 4-4 record on the season. After this quick turnaround, the Lynx are now off until December 16th, when they will welcome Lagrange College and Sewanee: University of the South to Memphis to compete in the Rhodes Holiday Classic.
