Wingate Knocks Railsplitters From Ranks Of Conference Unbeaten Teams 

HARROGATE, TN – On Wednesday evening the Railsplitters found out what it felt like to be among the ranks of the unbeaten in the South Atlantic Conference.  On Saturday night, they learned what a SAC loss tasted like. (Box score)

Lincoln Memorial earned its first win in South Atlantic Conference play Wednesday evening when the Railsplitters traveled to Jefferson City, Tennessee and defeated Carson-Newman College.  Although the game was close, the win put the Railsplitters at 1-0 in conference play entering Saturday’s home conference opener with the Bulldogs from Wingate.

Wingate, started the conference schedule off with a loss Wednesday evening, losing at Newberry College 89-79.  The loss, while a disappointment, served to fuel the fire for the Bulldogs in their 77-71 winning effort against the Railsplitters Saturday night, and helped Wingate to capture its’ first league win of the year.

Lincoln Memorial’s David Lopez (Tucson, AZ) led all scorers with 22 points, while freshman Beau Brown (Athens, TN) tossed 16.  Railsplitter senior Artavius Mitchell (Chicago, IL) and junior Dominique Petty (Metropolis, IN) each had 10.  Senior Joplin Johnson (Chicago, IL) led all rebounders with 13 boards.

For Wingate, Just Baker carried the brunt of the offensive attack with 19 points, while Bill Smith finished with 15 and teammates Sean Barnette and Bryan Grier each added 14.  Kenny Villines pulled 10 rebounds to help the Bulldog effort on the glass.   

The win drops Lincoln Memorial to 6-5 overall and 1-1 in the South Atlantic Conference heading into Monday night’s conference match-up with Tusculum in Harrogate, while Wingate improves to 8-4 on the year and 1-1 in league play.  The two teams will square off again on January 31 when LMU will travel to Wingate, North Carolina to try to avenge Saturday night’s loss.