VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview
VIDEO: Luke Brenegan Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (11-10, 5-6 South Atlantic Conference) suffered through its worst shooting night of the season and No. 8/9 Lincoln Memorial (21-2, 11-1 SAC) used a late first half run to secure an 84-69 win in Holt Fieldhouse Wednesday night.
Carson-Newman only knocked down 33.3 percent of its shots, a season low. Meanwhile, Lincoln Memorial became the second team to shoot better than 50 percent from the field against the Eagles this season (Clayton State is the other).
"We have to make more shots," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "You can trim this down to some real simple concepts in this game. You have to put the ball in the basket. We had as many shots at the basket as we could hope for, we just didn't make them. From a shot preference standpoint, you couldn't ask for more, other than it being nobody guarding us. They are an elite team and ranked in the top 10 for a reason."
Carson-Newman had 38 layup attempts, but only converted on 12, a 31.5 percent clip.
LMU broke open a tight game midway through the first half. Neither team had led by more than three through the first 10 minutes of the game, and the two sides had swapped leads five times and been tied on four occasions.
Then, C-N went six minutes without hitting a field goal, while LMU galivanted out to a 19-3 run to take a 16-point lead into the halftime locker room.
Carson-Newman's defense forced Jordan Walters and Quay Kennedy to step up and make shots, and both players did just that for LMU. Walters and Kennedy both had 23, their second-highest scoring nights of the season. They are the second pair of players to each go for 23 against C-N this season.
"We played confidently today," Benson said. "The numbers may not spell that out, but I thought we had some good looks from three that are tough to get against them. Something in me tells me today was a step in the right direction in regaining ourselves. I'm no prophet, but I felt like something positive came from today. I don't know why, because I want to win every game, but today was a step in the right direction, I truly believe."
Chase Rankin chased a triple-double for LMU with seven points, eight boards and 10 assists. He is the first player in five years to drop 10 dimes against C-N (Lenoir-Rhyne's Jonathan Jean had 11 on Dec. 5, 2018).
Jack Browder led Carson-Newman with a career-high 19 points and a career-high nine boards. He was 7-of-14 from the field and 3-of-7 from three.
"I thought Jack was great," Benson said. "It bodes well for what he can bring to the table as time goes on. He is finding more comfortability and confidence. I'm thrilled for him and ecstatic for our program for him to perform like this against this type of opponent."
Bryant Thomas (Charlotte, N.C.) was the Eagles' other double-digit scorer. He had 12 points, albeit on 4-of-12 shooting.
Lincoln Memorial outscored C-N in the paint 44-28, its largest paint deficit this season. The Eagles are 0-4 this year when being outscored in the paint.
Carson-Newman hits the road for two straight, starting with a trip to Catawba Saturday. Tipoff against the Indians is set for 4 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network starts at 3:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mountain Talk 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
