JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (13-6, 10-5 South Atlantic Conference) wraps up a three-game road swing in six days with a rivalry game with No. 18 Lincoln Memorial (14-3, 11-3 SAC) Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. in Tex Turner Arena.
"They are elite offensively and defensively," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "They have All-American level talent that is experienced and proven."
The Railsplitters made the Final Four last year before falling to West Texas A&M 87-86 at the buzzer.
LMU enters the contest off a 91-87 loss at Catawba Saturday that snapped a five-game win streak.
The Railsplitters are guided by first-year head coach Jeremiah Samarrippas who takes over for Josh Schertz after he left for Indiana State.
"Even though this is Jeremiah's first year as a head coach," Benson said. "He has been wise enough to follow the script and pick up systematically where Josh Schertz left off."
Lincoln Memorial carries Division II's longest active home winning streak and the third longest in the nation. LMU has won 39 straight home games, a streak only surpassed by Gonzaga's 62 and Liberty's 44. LMU hasn't lost a home game since March 6, 2019 when Wingate down the 'Splitters 80-78 in the quarterfinals of the South Atlantic Conference tournament.
The contest features the top two defenses in the South Atlantic Conference. Both Carson-Newman and Lincoln Memorial only allowed opponents to shoot 40.9 percent from the field. The Eagles allow a league-best 67.1 points per game while the Railsplitters are fifth in the league with 73.1 points allowed per game. Only two teams (Limestone and Wingate) have shot better than 45 percent on C-N, while three have on Lincoln Memorial (USC Aiken, Coker and Catawba).
"We know what they want to try to accomplish from an identity standpoint on the offensive side of the ball, the question is if we can do that," Benson said. "This game has to be played at a high level on both sides of the ball. We have to keep game pressure on ourselves by scoring the ball."
Bryant Thomas comes into the contest with 107 career blocks. He is second all-time. Andy Tipton holds the school record (2004-09) with 109 career rejections - Thomas is two rejections away from tying the career mark and three from breaking it.
Thomas is once again among the best in the nation at rejecting shots. He is 8th nationally with 40 blocks and 15th in the country with 2.22 re-directs per game. Thomas is the league leader in both categories.
Carson-Newman has the country's 11th best shot-blocking team with 78 total rejections. The Eagles lead the league for the category.
Tripp Davis is fifth in the country in total steals with 49 and seventh in steals per game with 2.88. Davis is four steals away from cracking the top 15 for steals in a single season (his own mark of 53 from last year).
Davis has 140 steals for his career, He moved past Braun Dabbs with a six-steal day against Wingate and now has sole possession of sixth on the career steal chart. He needs eight more to catch Andrew Johnson (2005-09) for fifth and his 148 steals.
Lincoln Memorial is the SAC's most prolific three-point shooting team. The Railsplitters have made double-digit threes in all but two games (five at Tusculum and nine versus Queens). LMU is number two in the country in threes made per game with 12.4. The Railsplitters lead the SAC and are 21st in the country knocking down 39 percent of their triples.
LMU forward Jordan Guest has been named to the Bevo Francis Award Top 100 Watch List. The Clarence "Bevo" Francis Award is presented annually to the player who has had the finest overall season within Small College Basketball.
Tipoff between the Eagles and Railsplitters is set for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday night. 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.
