HARROGATE, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (9-3, 2-2 SAC) suffered through its second worst shooting night of the season and dropped an 83-64 decision to #22 Lincoln Memorial (9-4, 3-1 SAC) on Wednesday night inside of Tex Turner Arena.
"Just an incomplete 40 minutes," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "The stingier the competition, the more consistent your performance has to be. It was a very choppy and incomplete 40 minutes of basketball. But, congrats to LMU. They have a lot to do with the opponents performance, as we have something to do with our opponents performance. Tonight, they outperformed us on both sides of the ball. We have to figure out how to take this information and experience and get better from it."
Three layups and a pair of free throws got Lincoln Memorial out to the quick 8-0 start in the first two minutes of the game. Carson-Newman would settle in going on a 9-0 scoring run to lead 16-15 at the 12:52 mark of the opening half.
C-N never saw the lead again as LMU responded with an 11-0 run of their own to lead 26-16 with 9:52 until halftime. The Eagles saw the deficit swell to 14 but on multiple occasions, was able to get it back to single digits in the final five minutes of the half. After C-N made it an eight-point game, Wes Enis scored the final 11 points for LMU, including three triples in the final 90 seconds of the half to make the margin 13 at halftime. LMU shot a blistering 65% from the field and made nine of its 12 three-point attempts. It's the highest shooting percentage an opponent has put forth against C-N in a half since Johnson Smith on January 21st, 2019, when it shot 71% that day.
John Zhao (Sevierville, Tenn.) and Nick Brenegan (Greenville, N.C.) combined to score the first eleven C-N second half points and the Eagles drew within eight points, just five minutes into the second half.
LMU's shooting cooled off early on in the second half, starting 4-15. Unfortunately, C-N also started 4-15 and was unable to take advantage of the defensive stops. A near 5-minute field goal drought for C-N saw LMU take advantage, increasing the lead to 19 halfway through the second half.
After that stretch, C-N was never able to get any closer than 16.
Carson-Newman finished the game shooting 36%, its second lowest percentage of the season. The Eagles scored a season-low 64 points.
"It was a tough day," Benson said. "LMU did a great job defensively. They are very very sound in their scout preparation and I thought we were too. They were really trying to impact Nick and John's three-point opportunities. Our team has been at its best when we have diversity on offense and not just two guys that produced well, but four or five guys. We just weren't able to get that tonight."
Trey Hubbard paced Carson-Newman with 20 points, making six of his 19 shots. Jack Browder followed in behind nicely, scoring 18 points on 50% shooting. Off the bench, Ren Dyer led the team with 11 rebounds and four assists.
Lincoln Memorial only had six players score, but four of them reached double-figures. Me'kel Burries and Jordan Walters each scored 18 points. Chase Rankin pitched in 17 points and dished out a game-high six assists. Martez Brown, the nation's top rebounder, snared down 21 rebounds, despite C-N winning the battle on the boards 39-37. C-N also controlled the offensive glass, bringing down 15 boards.
C-N returns to the hardwood on Saturday afternoon when it matches up with the Newberry Wolves. Tipoff between the Eagles and Wolves is set for 4:00 p.m. Wednesday. 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.
