NEWBERRY – Lenoir-Rhyne's fourth quarter dominance too much for the the Newberry men's lacrosse team, falling 21-16 Saturday afternoon at Setzler field.
 
The Wolves (7-3, 1-2 SAC) were led offensively by Stone Boone and Zachary Sunderland with four goals each. Jeremy Ross had three goals while Dylan Mansur and Kyle Dunklee tacked on two each. Justin Messersmith rounded out the goal scores for Newberry. Mansur and Brady Kearnan were great facilitators on offense as they had four assists each. Messersmith had the team other assists.
 
Newberry started out the game on the right foot with Dunklee and Mansur notching goals to take the 2-0 lead halfway through the first quarter. The Bears were able to answer with two goals of their own. Sunderland answered, scoring two goals under a minute apart to take to 4-2 lead for the Wolves. Kearnan was able to find Dunklee to push to push the lead to three goals. Lenoir-Rhyne would tack on one more to cut the deficit to two going into the second quarter.
 
The Bears were able to control the second quarter of action, outscoring the Wolves 6-0 in the quarter to take a 9-5 lead going into intermission.
 
The Wolves had to make changes coming into the second half if they didn't want the game to get out of hand. David Bell scored just seconds into the third quarter to take a 10-5 lead. The Wolves found themselves in a similar situation earlier in the week and were no strangers from playing from behind. Newberry was able to flip a switch and string together eight unanswered goals to make it 13-10.
 
During the run, Mansur had what maybe the goal of the year. Mansur got the ball in the offensive zone and was able to spin by a defender. With the spin, Mansur lost his footing and launch a shot and found the back of the net to give Newberry the momentum they needed. Edward Tate was able to halt the run with just over two minutes in the third frame to make it 13-11. Ross was able to give the Wolves the 14-11 advantage heading into the final quarter with just under a minute in the third.
 
The Bears, a Final Four team from a year ago, were able to retake the momentum in the final frame as they scored 10 goals to Newberry's two.
 
On the defensive end, Messersmith led the way with five ground balls. Justin Walsh and Boone added four ground balls each. Walsh was able to create extra opportunities for the Wolves, causing two turnovers. Seven Wolves were able to cause one turnover apiece.
 
 
Erick Szurley went the distance in net, earning the loss, making 13 saves on 34 shots faced.
 
Newberry will be back in action next Saturday as they travel to Greeneville, Tenn. To take on conference foe Tusculum at 3 p.m.