VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – In the first battle between nationally ranked foes inside Holt Fieldhouse in more than 15 years, No. 18 Carson-Newman (15-3, 7-3 South Atlantic Conference) was found wanting.
Third-ranked Lincoln Memorial (16-1, 10-0 SAC) used a highly efficient offensive attack coupled with a stingy defense to throttle the Eagles 108-69 Wednesday night inside Holt Fieldhouse.
"Styles make the fight," head coach Chuck Benson said. "They got us out of what we normally do defensively. They have so much talent and they defend so well, it's an incredibly daunting task. They've done this to a lot of people in this league. We had to line up and take our medicine.
"We'll learn from it and get better from it. I hate this for a lot of folks, but it's part of the experiences you have and you can chose how to respond to it. We'll chose to respond well and move forward. We cannot get into an emotional, reactionary back-and-forth with someone. We have to control our execution of defensive and offensive schemes and strategies instead. We didn't do that on any level in my mind tonight. It's unfortunate that it happened tonight and is very disappointing to me."
The Eagles' 39-point margin of defeat is the worst loss in the history of Holt Fieldhouse and the fifth worst loss in school history.
Carson-Newman was limited to a season-low 69 points and a season-low 33.8 percent shooting from the field. At the same time, the Eagles allowed a season-high 108 points on a season-high 57.7 percent shooting from the field. Lincoln Memorial also knocked down 18 threes, the second most they'd drilled this season and the most that the Eagles had given up all year.
The Eagles and Railsplitters played tight through the game's first 7:14 with C-N trailing 14-9 following a Dimitrii Bykov (Moscow, Russia) offensive rebound and putback.
However, after that Lincoln Memorial's onslaught was on. The Railsplitters scored the game's next 12 points, capping the run with a dunk by Emmanuel Terry, a three by Trevon Shaw and a layup on the fast break by Deshawn Patterson.
All told, LMU had five distinct runs of 8-0 or better. Carson-Newman had allowed 10 such runs all season prior to Wednesday night's game.
Charles Clark (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) collected his 54th career 20-point game 21 points on 5-of-16 shooting. He was 9-for-9 at the stripe.
Shaun Jones (Lawrenceville, Ga.) and Malik Abraham (Snellville, Ga.) represented Carson-Newman's other two double-digit scorers. They each finished with 12.
Grant Teichmann (Brentwood, Tenn.) flirted with a triple-double with eight points, six boards and six assists.
Lincoln Memorial was led by Trevon Shaw and Emmanuel Terry. The duo combined for 57. Shaw dropped 30, with an 8-for-14 effort from the three-point land. Terry added 27, with a near flawless 10-for-12 effort from the field. Terry had a double-double with 12 boards.
Dorian Pinson also nearly produced a triple-double for the Railsplitters with 13 points, 13 boards and nine assists.
The loss halted Carson-Newman's home winning streak at 15 while extending Lincoln Memorial's SAC and road winning streaks to 24 and 15, respectively.
The Eagles are back in action Saturday at 4 p.m. against the Newberry Wolves. Pregame coverage begins at 3:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mountain Country 106.3 (WFPT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
