Ball security issues plague C-N in 70-58 loss to Lincoln Memorial
January 14, 2026

Ball security issues plague C-N in 70-58 loss to Lincoln Memorial

JEFFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (8-7, 3-6 South Atlantic Conference) coughed up 19 turnovers leading to 22 Lincoln Memorial (9-6, 5-4 SAC) points in a 70-58 setback to the Railsplitters Wednesday night in Holt Fieldhouse. 

VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview

JEFFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (8-7, 3-6 South Atlantic Conference) coughed up 19 turnovers leading to 22 Lincoln Memorial (9-6, 5-4 SAC) points in a 70-58 setback to the Railsplitters Wednesday night in Holt Fieldhouse. 

The loss is a fourth straight for C-N, marking just the fourth four-game losing streak under 16-year head coach Chuck Benson. 

"You have to be honest with yourself, to thine own self be true," Benson said, quoting Shakespeare. "How many guys are actually being honest with themselves about what's transpiring here and being honest with their level of responsibility. It has to start there. That's a lesson beyond basketball. You have to ask yourself what your role is and can you positively impact it, or recognize it's beyond your control.  I think too many guys are struggling with that self-awareness, and the discipline and determination to deal with the reality. We could not be doing more to align them with success, but they have to want that to." 

LMU led wire-to-wire in the win and by as many as 15.  Carson-Newman overcame double-digit deficits twice to get within a possession, but never could get over the hump.  C-N trailed by three, 52-49 with 9:49 to go in the game following a Jack Browder (Kingsport, Tenn.) triple.  However, LMU outscored C-N 18-9 over the final nine minutes to cement the win. 

Carson-Newman had four separate stretches of at least 3:30 or longer where it failed to score, including one of 3:51 that was coupled with a 6-0 LMU run with under eight minutes to go that stretched the lead back to nine, 58-49. 

Some of the lulls were due to shotmaking, but turnovers influenced visits to the offensive doldrums. C-N had three separate stretches where it turned it over once per minute for four straight minutes, including an early second-half swoon where the Eagles gave it away six times in six minutes. 

"This has been a two-week odyssey of junk and a nightmare to start the calendar year," head coach Chuck Benson said. "Catawba beats us here at home, that's an NCAA tournament team.  E&H we lose to on the road, we've never lost a game to them.  LR we go to on the road, they are probably one of the top two teams in the region. We have LMU here, big rivalry game. We thought our guys would tap into the same excitement and injury when we went to Tusculum.  We seemed disoriented from the get go.

"This team continues to demonstrate a lack of poise in real time, a lack of discipline in real time, and an inability to follow through in the agreements that we make as it regards to our scout.  There is a significant lack of trust between myself and these players because we try to get this thing down to the nuts and bolts and have them impact that. We still struggle with it at an incredibly high rate." 

LMU made 46.0 percent of its shots and 31.8 percent of its threes, going 7-of-22 from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, C-N connected on 44.2 percent of its attempts, making 6-of-20 shots from range (30.0 percent).  LMU got up 11 more shots than C-N.  The Eagles owned a 33-28 edge on the glass.  It marked the second game this season where C-N has lost when outrebounding its opponent. 

Browder led all scorers with an efficient 17.  He was 7-of-11 from the field and 3-of-4 from deep. He did see his school-record 10-game streak scoring at least 20 points come to a close. 

He logged his ninth double-double of the year and the 34th of his career with 10 boards. 

Browder moved past Gil Luttrell and into eighth on the all-time scoring list with the effort. He has 1,717 points in his career.  

Braden Ilic (Morristown, Tenn.) and Matt Bilbrey (Crossville, Tenn.) followed suit with 14 and 13, respectively. 

LMU had five players finish in double-digits. West Virginia State transfer Nate Mims led LMU with 14.  He was 6-of-12 from the field and scored 10 after halftime.   

Ashton Pennamon and Walter Campbell each had 13, while Jadyen Spearman and Armon Jarrard added 11 and 10, respectively. 

"Ultimately players have a responsibility to do the job that we all collectively agree is going to work," Benson said. "We seem to have a real problem in doing that for some reason.  We practice a lot. We prepare a lot.  For whatever reason, guys can't follow through consistently. The things we are asking guys to do have less to do with experience and more to do with commitment, follow through and discipline."   

Carson-Newman returns home Saturday to take on Newberry. Tipoff 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.  A live look of press row with Adam Cavalier on mic can be found through YouTube. 

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