VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview
VIDEO: Trey Hubbard Interview
HARROGATE, Tenn. – No. 11 Lincoln Memorial (22-4, 20-3 South Atlantic Conference) used a 10-0 run over a two-minute stretch in the middle of the second half to take control of a back-and-forth affair and prevail 95-85 over Carson-Newman (20-9, 15-8 SAC) Wednesday evening in Tex Turner Arena.
The win clinches Lincoln Memorial a share of the SAC regular season title, the top seed for next week's SAC tournament and runs their regular season home unbeaten streak over SAC foes to 64 consecutive.
"The reality is that we and every other team in the country is searching for 40 minute performances any given night," head coach Chuck Benson said. "Its hard to get a good 40-minute performance on any given night, it's unbelievably challenging to get that against Lincoln Memorial. That's what we were striving for, and we came up short. I saw a lot of positives from tonight. When we put our best foot forward, it's good enough. On the flip, there was that segment of time where it wasn't what it needed to be. At the same time, credit to LMU because they did some insane stuff tonight. We walk out of here prepared to get ready for Coker and build from the positives while learning from the negatives."
The teams were tied seven times and swapped leads on 10 occasions before LMU surged ahead with 10:24 to go in the second half.
Nick Brenegan (Greenville, S.C.) canned a three to put the Eagles up 63-62 with 10:24 to go. C-N wouldn't score again over the next two minutes as Wes Enis scored five straight followed by back-to-back tip ins from Mahmoud Bangura, the latter of which was an and-one, enabling LMU to secure a lead it wouldn't lose.
The Railsplitters trailed 42-36 at the halftime break before outscoring C-N 59-43 in the second half. LMU shot 57.6 percent from the field after halftime and connected on 7-of-12 second-half threes.
LMU had very few empty possessions in the second half. The Railsplitters outrebounded C-N 16-8 in the second half. LMU had 12 offensive boards for the game and outscored C-N 17-3 in second chance points.
Enis was the catalyst for LMU after halftime. The reigning SAC Freshman of the Year matched a career high with 35 points, 29 of which came in the second half. He was 11-of-21 from the field and 7-of-13 from beyond the arc.
"Some of the shots he made late were defended, contested and the degree of difficulty was as high as it possibly could have been and he made them," Benson said. "When those things happen, you have to look deeper. I can sort of stomach is when you lose due to an elite performance, his second half performance was elite. We have to deal with that reality."
Elyjah Freeman added in 29 for LMU on 8-of-15 shooting. He was 11-of-12 at the line. The bulk of his work came from the first half. He had 18 points at the break.
Connor Jordan was LMU's final double-digit scorer with 14 points.
Carson-Newman didn't play poorly. The Eagles made 56.4 percent of their shots and knocked down 9-of-23 threes. The 56.4 percent shooting effort and 85 points are both the high water marks that LMU – the conference's top scoring defense – has surrendered this season.
Jack Browder (Kingsport, Tenn.) guided Carson-Newman with his 30th career 20-point game. He finished with 27 points on 7-of-11 shooting and connected on two-of-three threes.
Trey Hubbard (Charlotte, N.C.) followed with 18 points. He made all seven of his two-point attempts and went 1-of-5 from deep.
In his 11th career game against Lincoln Memorial, Nick Brenegan (Greenville, S.C.) tallied his first career double-digit scoring effort against the Railsplitters and snapped a string of 10 consecutive misses from deep against LMU. Brenegan was 3-of-7 from distance and finished with 14 points.
Matt Bilbrey (Crossville, Tenn.) tallied his third career double-digit scoring effort with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
Carson-Newman returns home for Senior Day Saturday against Coker. Tipoff with the Cobras is set for 4 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 3:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mix 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. A video stream is available with a subscription to FloSports at cneagles.com/FloMbb.
