Turnovers Hurt Railsplitters in Loss to Top Ranked Montevallo 

MONTEVALLO, AL – Thirteen first half turnovers were the damaging blow to the Lincoln Memorial University men in Monday night’s battle against the #1 nationally ranked Falcons of the University of Montevallo, now the only unbeaten team in Gulf South Conference Eastern Division play. (Box score)

LMU and Montevallo entered their first meeting of the year both at 3-0 Monday evening with the eyes of the Gulf South Conference watching their game.  The two teams went toe to toe over the first 10 minutes of play however, midway through the first half the Railsplitters began to commit numerous turnovers and that resulted in their eventual 88-67 demise. 

With two NCAA All-South Region performers and the addition of former Wisconsin Men’s Basketball Player of the Year Greg Brown, the Falcons took a 12 point lead into the locker room at the intermission and then pushed that margin out to the final 21 point victory by the night’s end.  The Falcons also forced the Railsplitters into 24 turnovers by the end of the night and held LMU to only 38.2% shooting from the field.

Montevallo’s James Hall led all scorers with 21 points while teammates Greg Brown and Marcus Kennedy both had 16 and Robert Sharpe came off the bench to contribute 13.  For Lincoln Memorial, senior Stevie Akridge (Grand Rapids, MI) pumped in 16 points, junior point guard Kelvin Burnes (Miami, FL) put in 13, Johnny Martin (Detroit, MI) had 11 and junior Artavius Mitchell (Chicago, IL) 10 in the Railsplitters' first loss in GSC play this season.

The Railsplitters remain in a tie for second place in the GSC Eastern Division with the University of Alabama-Huntsville at 3-1 as they prepare for Saturday’s home game with the University of North Alabama and Monday night’s meeting with the Chargers.  Tip-off for each of the outings is set for 8:00 p.m. in the Tex Turner Arena.