VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview
VIDEO: Highlights
VIDEO: Jack Browder Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – In a game that featured 15 ties and 23 lead changes, it was top-seeded and eighth-ranked Lincoln Memorial (25-4) that grabbed a final lead with 43 seconds left to prevail in an instant classic 81-78 over fifth-seeded Carson-Newman (21-11) Thursday afternoon in the semifinals of the SAC Basketball Championship at the Rock Hill Sports & Events Center.
Lincoln Memorial advances to the SAC title game for a second straight year. The Railsplitters will face the winner of the Lenoir-Rhyne/Catawba semifinal at 4 p.m. Friday afternoon.
Neither team had more than a two possession lead over the final 21 minutes of the game. The 38 combined ties and lead changes are the most ever for a game where Chuck Benson has been at the helm of the C-N men's basketball program.
Jack Browder (Kingsport, Tenn.) hit a step back three to put the Eagles up one with 62 seconds left, 78-77. Unfortunately for C-N, those would be the last points the Eagles would score.
SAC Freshman of the Year Elyjah Freeman scored a layup with 41 seconds left to give LMU the lead for good. A Nick Brenegan (Greenville, S.C.) layup came up empty for C-N with 21 seconds left before the Eagles fouled Freeman on the ensuing rebound. He buried both free throws to set the final margin at 81-78.
John Zhao (Sevierville, Tenn.) had a chance to tie the game with a head of the key three with five seconds left, but his shot, his only missed three of the game, glanced off to the right of the iron.
"I'm very proud of our guys," head coach Chuck Benson said. "There were several things internally that we made a big deal of and I thought we locked in and committed to those things. Our guys followed through with our requests and agreements. We just came up short. The game was decided in the last 30 seconds. I've got three words for you, Freeman, Freeman, Freeman. He took that game over on the offensive boards and in the paint. They iso'd him and he sealed the deal for them."
Jack Browder (Kingsport, Tenn.) was transcendent for C-N. He scored 32 points on 11-of-15 shooting and was 9-of-12 at the charity stripe. He registered 11 rebounds for his 13th double-double of the season and the 24th of his career.
"Jack was a really accomplished high school player, so the DNA that drives winning is in him," Benson said. "We've all seen it, he's turned into a great college player. I'm excited about this season and the regional tournament, presuming we make that. But I'm also excited about him being a cornerstone for us in the 2025-26 season."
Zhao was C-N's other double-digit scorer. He had 17 points, becoming the 20th member of C-N's 1,400-point club with the effort. Zhao was 5-of-9 from the field and 3-of-4 from three.
C-N clamped down on SAC Player of the Year Wes Enis, limiting him to seven points on 2-of-15 shooting, including a 1-8 mark from beyond the arc.
However, while Enis struggled, SAC Freshman of the Year Elyjah Freeman was on another plane of existence. Freeman scored 32 points on 12-of-20 shooting and snagged a career-best 19 rebounds. Six of his boards were on the offensive glass.
He scored 28 of his points after halftime and was responsible for 12 of the final 15 points LMU scored in the game.
Thomas Allard (11), Mahmoud Bangura (10) and Connor Jordan (10) were LMU's three other double-digit scorers.
LMU owned a 38-27 edge on the glass and snagged 13 offensive boards, converting those into 15 second-chance points. Comparatively, C-N had eight.
The Eagles shot 51.8 percent from the field, but hit a season-low 5-of-16 threes. The Eagles were 15-of-19 at the charity stripe.
LMU shot 45.9 percent from the field and was 6-of-21 from deep.
"Credit to our team, I loved our team's fight and what we saw from them today," Benson said. "I hope to goodness that we continue to play and that our body of work through the regular season is strong enough to get us into the Southeast Regional. I just want this to keep on going. The numbers should speak for themselves about us."
Carson-Newman faces a long 72 hours and will find out its NCAA tournament fate Sunday evening at 10:30 p.m. with a selection show on NCAA.com.
