LAKELAND, Fla. – The No. 6 Lincoln Memorial men's basketball team came all the way back from a 15-point halftime deficit, but fell 83-81 in a heartbreaker to No. 24 Alabama Huntsville on Sunday at the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in George W. Jenkins Field House.
 
The Chargers (1-1) built a lead as high as 16 in the final minute of the first half. The duo of Chaney Johnson (25 points) and Luke Burnett (21) made difficult shots throughout the game for an efficient Alabama Huntsville offense.
 
Lincoln Memorial (1-1) would steadily fight back from the 47-32 halftime score, eventually tying it up at 68-all on the second of back-to-back Me'Kell Burries 3-pointers, but the Chargers went on a 10-2 run from there to take command of the game.
 
Matthew Sells, who sparked the offense in the first half with five 3-pointers before adding a couple more after halftime, had a shot from the right wing to win the game in the closing seconds, but it bounced off the front iron. Sells led Lincoln Memorial with 21 points on the day.
 
Burries (15 points) and Jordan Guest (13) jumpstarted the Railsplitter offense early in the second half, as Burries hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first minute while Guest had 10 points in the second period.
 
Lincoln Memorial wraps up the invitational with a 1-1 record after a 108-80 win over Valdosta State on Saturday.
 
Up next for the Railsplitters is the South Atlantic Conference / Peach Belt Conference Challenge on Friday and Saturday in Tusculum, Tenn., against Clayton State and USC Aiken.