Railsplitters Win First Game Of SAC Era

JEFFERSON CITY, TN – Lincoln Memorial University men’s basketball Head Coach Hugh Watson and the Railsplitters traveled to Jefferson City, Tennessee Wednesday night and successfully kicked off the new era in LMU basketball with a 78-73 win over Dale Clayton’s Eagles of Carson-Newman. (Box score)

Lincoln Memorial took control of the game early and relinquished the lead only twice during the game en route to their first South Atlantic Conference win of the year and their sixth win of the season.

Senior guard David Lopez (Tucson, AZ) senior center Joplin Johnson (Chicago, IL) and senior point guard Kai Wells (Memphis, TN) were responsible for carrying most of the offensive load against the Eagles.  Lopez took top honors in the scoring category with 26 points, including 16 in the second half, while Johnson finished the game with 20 and Wells contributed 10.

Aside from controlling the boards, the Railsplitters hit 52.8% of their shots from the field and 58.3% of their shot behind the arc, while hitting 71.4 of their free throws for the game.

Now 6-4 overall and 1-0 in the South Atlantic Conference, the Railsplitters will return to the Tex Turner Arena on Saturday night to play their first home league game when they host Wingate University.  Saturday’s action will be a double-header with the Lady Railsplitters who will tip it up at 6:00 p.m. against the Lady Bulldogs.  The men’s game will get started around 8:00 p.m.