VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – No. 14/16 Lincoln Memorial (10-2, 8-1 South Atlantic Conference) got a career-high 36 points from freshman forward Elyjah Freeman and shot 53.2 percent from the field and 52.4 percent from three to knock off Carson-Newman 89-80 (11-6, 6-5 SAC) Wednesday evening at Holt Fieldhouse.
The loss snaps a three-game winning streak for C-N against nationally-ranked opposition. C-N did become just the third team to shoot better than 45 percent from the field against the conference's top field goal efficiency defense. C-N finished at 47.6 percent en route to becoming just the second team to score 80 or more points this season against the Railsplitters.
However, C-N's offense wasn't enough to keep pace with Freeman's remarkable day. He became the second opposing player to score 30 or more against the Eagles in the last four years. Freeman finished 13-of-24 from the field and 4-of-6 from three. He was 7-for-17 from beyond the arc on the season prior to Wednesday's game.
"Credit to LMU, they lost at LR last Saturday, and they were unbelievably locked in today," head coach Chuck Benson said. "It appeared to me that they were the hungrier, more determined team tonight. They kicked our tales. We wanted to force other guys for them to do something. Well then Elijah Freeman gets a career day. Freeman is a mid-major level player, what he did to us with difficult shot making speaks for itself."
LMU built a 13-point halftime lead on the strength of a 7-0 run to close the half. The Railsplitters made a comeback attempt a figment of imaginations as C-N suffered through a 3:30 scoring drought in the middle of the second half while LMU rattled off a 14-0 run headlined by a pair of Thomas Allard threes.
Carson-Newman knocked down nine of its final 11 shots and went on an 8-0 run late to make the final margin a touch more respectable than the rest of the game may have indicated.
John Zhao (Sevierville, Tenn.) and Jack Browder (Kingsport, Tenn.) both turned in 20-point nights. Zhao finished with 22 on 8-of-19 shooting, including a 4-of-9 effort from deep. It marked just the second time in 26 career games with 20 or more points for Zhao that C-N suffered a defeat.
Browder had 21. He did not miss any of his seven two-point shot attempts. Browder also had eight boards.
Braden Ilic (Morristown, Tenn.) rounded out C-N's double-digit scorers. He had 11.
Freeman paced a quarter of double-digit scorers for LMU. Allard had 12, all from beyond the arc.
Connor Jordan chipped in 13 on 5-of-8 shooting, while the league's second-leading scorer Wes Enis was held to 10 on 3-of-11 shooting.
Carson-Newman returns to the floor Saturday at Newberry. Tipoff with the Wolves at Eleazer Arena is set for 2 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 1:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mix 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
