Top 15-showdown on tap with Railsplitters to wrap up regular season in Holt
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (17-9, 14-8 South Atlantic Conference) rounds out the regular season in Holt Fieldhouse with a matchup with No, 8/11 Lincoln Memorial (22-3, 19-3 SAC) Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m.
| Final | 1 | 2 | T |
|---|---|---|---|
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29 | 49 | 78 |
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26 | 44 | 70 |
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (17-9, 14-8 South Atlantic Conference) rounds out the regular season in Holt Fieldhouse with a matchup with No, 8/11 Lincoln Memorial (22-3, 19-3 SAC) Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m.
Lincoln Memorial is in the hunt for a South Atlantic Conference regular season title. The Railsplitters are tied with Queens atop the league table, and if they win out, would clinch no worse than a share of the conference's regular season title.
Carson-Newman sits in fifth place in the league standings. The Eagles mathematically could still catch Tusculum and Wingate in the league standings and could finish as high as tied for third. However, the Pioneers own a win over Queens, while Wingate owns wins over Lincoln Memorial and Tusculum, giving both schools the edge in a potential tiebreaker over Carson-Newman.
"In this second meeting, we get to have Ren and Luke," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "That was a big deal for us to be down two starters that last time out. I thought defensively, we were able to impact their volume of threes, but we were exposed in other areas because LMU is that efficient in their execution. We just have to score more points. That will be a combination of personnel and our sheer determination to get the types of shots we want."
Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson eyes his 200th career victory as head coach at Carson-Newman. Benson looks to join Daley Clayton, Gene Mehaffey and Dick Campbell as coaches at C-N with more than 200 career wins for the program.
Lincoln Memorial is the SAC's most prolific three-point shooting team. The Railsplitters had made double-digit threes in all but two games (five at Tusculum and nine versus Queens) leading into the first meeting with Carson-Newman on Jan. 26. However, since the Eagles held LMU to eight threes, the Railsplitters have knocked down 10 or more threes in just three of their last seven games.
Even with that, LMU is number three in the country in threes made per game with 11.7. The Railsplitters lead the SAC and are 18th in the country knocking down 39 percent of their triples.
Lincoln Memorial point guard Chase Rankin is one of three players in NCAA Division II with multiple triple doubles this season (Indiana's Armoni Foster and Ohio Dominican's Alek West are the others). Rankin is sixth nationally assists with 153 and eighth in assists per game with 6.1
Lincoln Memorial is trying to match its longest win streak over Carson-Newman in series history with a fifth consecutive victory. The Railsplitters won five straight from 2016-2018 before C-N snapped that streak with a 79-75 win inside Holt Fieldhouse.
Bryant Thomas is once again among the best in the nation at rejecting shots. He is ninth nationally with 56 blocks and 13th in the country with 2.24 re-directs per game. Thomas is the league leader in both categories.
Carson-Newman has the country's 24th best shot-blocking team with 106 total rejections. The Eagles lead the league for the category. Carson-Newman's 10-rejection day against Newberry is one of 32 double-digit rejection days in Division II this year.
Tripp Davis is sixth in the country in total steals with 62 and seventh in steals per game with 2.58. Davis is in the top five for steals in a single season at Carson-Newman. He is tied with Kyle Gribble for fourth in a single season, which also tied him for the NCAA-era mark. He needs four more to catch Skip Wyatt (1971-72) for third most in a single-season.
Davis has 152 steals for his career. Ishmail Simmons sits four steals away from Davis in fourth on the career record chart.
Tipoff between the Eagles and Railsplitters is set for 7:30 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network starts at 7:15 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mountain Sports 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
Team Stats
#7/11 Lincoln Memorial
| Game Statistics | #7/11 Lincoln Memorial | Carson-Newman |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (29-57) | (27-66) |
| Field Goal % | 50.9% | 40.9% |
| Rebounds | 36 | 33 |
| Assists | 18 | 13 |
| Turnovers | 16 | 9 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 17 | 13 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 7 | 7 |
| Pts in the Paint | 36 | 30 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 10 | 6 |
| Bench Pts | 18 | 10 |
