CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Trevon Shaw buried the go-ahead three-pointer with 75 seconds left in regulation and the No. 5 Railsplitters (15-1, 9-0 SAC) held on to defeat the No. 1 nationally-ranked Queens Royals (16-1, 8-1 SAC) 73-72 in a rematch of last season's Sweet 16 on Saturday evening, Jan. 13, at the Levine Center. Less than a month after losing to the previous No. 1 team, Northwest Missouri State, Lincoln Memorial picks up the first win over the nation's top-ranked team in program history.
The Railsplitters struggled mightily at the start and found themselves trailing by as many as 14 points in the first half. However, Lincoln Memorial used a timely run to end the first stanza and a strong second-half defensive effort to take over the top spot in the South Atlantic Conference standings and move into pole position to host the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional in March. "I am really proud of our team tonight," said LMU head coach Josh Schertz. "It was one of those night where it would have been easy to not continue to bring it on every possession defensively. For most of the night their best offense was our offense. I thought in the first half we could have gotten knocked out. I told them at halftime we had given up nine offensive rebounds and had 11 turnovers so we were incredibly fortunate to only be down three. "We knew if we could cut some of those numbers in half we'd have a good chance of winning the game, unfortunately we couldn't do that with our turnovers. I think that ultimately our guys made just enough plays to win the game against a really good team. I think we benefited; they missed some shots, some open looks. But I do think we guarded them hard and at least maybe that had a cumulative effect at the end of the game." Shaw scored 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including what proved to be the game-winner, to lead the Railsplitters to victory. Dorian Pinson added 16 points five rebounds and two assists, and Emanuel Terry (pictured) posted a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds while going 8-for-12 at the free-throw line. Cornelius Taylor chipped in 11 points and five assists, while Josh Odem kicked in a pair of three-pointers to score eight points. The Railsplitters play the second leg of their three-game road trip when they travel to nearby Jefferson City, Tenn. on Wednesday, January 17 for a clash against the rival Carson-Newman Eagles. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. in Holt Fieldhouse in the 205th all-time meeting between the long-time adversaries.
LMU Women Dominate Queens 78-55
The LMU women's basketball team seized the lead midway through the first quarter and never looked back as they overthrew the Queens Royals 78-55 Saturday afternoon to win their fifth-straight contest. The win improves the Lady Railsplitters to 10-5 on the season and 6-3 in South Atlantic Conference play. Queens falls to 4-11 and 1-8 in the SAC with the loss. LMU had three players in double digits in scoring, led by Shea Coker's 16 points. Coker scored 13 of her points in the second half. Ross Mathis had 15 points, all on three-pointers, while Rachel Griffith chipped in 13 points. LMU, which out-rebounded Queens 32-25 for the game, was led on the boards by Elizabeth Jones' career high of six rebounds while Addi Kirkpatrick pulled down five rebounds. Jones also led LMU with four assists.
LMU Athletics Photo
