Harrogate, TN - The Lincoln Memorial men's basketball team played host to the Anderson Trojans on Saturday, seeking its fourth consecutive conference win in the season. After a close battle in the early going, the Railsplitters built a double digit lead by halftime. However, the Trojans failed to relent, keeping the game tightly contested throughout. Lincoln Memorial inevitably secure the victory 73-71, thanks to clutch buckets in the closing minutes of the game.
In the game's first minutes, the Trojans kept things competitive. With the score knotted at 6-6 in the first six minutes, Anderson went on a 5-0 run to take its largest lead of the game at 11-6. Lincoln Memorial regained control of the game, outscoring the Trojans 10-6 over the course of the next four minutes to take a 21-17 lead. The game remained tight as the score grew to 29-26 with 5:45 remaining in the first half. On the heels of a 9-2 run, the Railsplitters' lead ballooned to 38-38 with three minutes left in the opening half. Lincoln Memorial outscored Anderson throughout the rest of the half to take a 45-34 lead into the half. The Railsplitters dominated the paint, outscoring the Trojans 22-6 on the interior, including a trio of strong dunks from Elyjah Freeman and Mahmoud Bangura. Lincoln Memorial played to the strength of its athleticism, dominating the fast break, outscoring Anderson 10-0 in such situations.
The Trojans opened the second half on a 4-0 run to cut the lead back to within single digits, 45-38. Anderson continued to cut into the Lincoln Memorial lead. By the first media timeout of the second half, the Railsplitters' lead was cut to four, 48-44. Outscoring Lincoln Memorial 21-7 in the first nine minutes of the second half, Anderson was able to regaining the lead 55-52 with 11 minutes remaining. The Trojans maintained a three point advantage as time crept below eight minutes and the score ballooning to 61-58. The Anderson lead grew to 64-61, but a 4-0 run from Lincoln Memorial saw the lead change hands back to the Railsplitters with less than five minutes remaining in the game. A pair of free throws saw the Trojans regain the lead, 66-65 with 3:30 remaining in the game. The lead changed hands twice over the next minute and a half with Lincoln Memorial holding a slim 69-68 advantage before a pair of Wes Enis free throws put the Railsplitters in front by three points, 71-68 with less than two minutes remaining in the game. Anderson knotted the game at 71-71 from the free throw line with 1:30 remaining in the game. Enis connected on a contested layup with 10-seconds left on the clock to give Lincoln Memorial a 73-71 lead. Out of the timeout, the Trojans failed to convert, seeing the Railsplitters secure a 73-71 victory, improving to 6-1 on the season and 4-0 in conference play. The Railsplitters shot 51% from the floor for the game, including a 39% clip from long range. Lincoln Memorial dominated the interior, 34-12 and the fast break 18-3.
Lincoln Memorial's offense was as balanced as it gets, with five players in double figures. Jordan Walters, EJ Smith, and Osmar Garcia-Araujo led the Railsplitters with 12 points each. Elyjah Freeman and Wes Enis added 11 points each. Garcia-Araujo and Enis led rebounding with seven boards each. Walters added five rebounds. Smith added four assists. Mahmoud Bangura "Mo" added seven points and seven rebounds. Thomas Allard added five points and Connor Jordan added three points to round out scoring for the Railsplitters.
