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LMU BASKETBALL NEWS |
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LINCOLN MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY OFFICE OF SPORTS INFORMATION Sports Release February 9, 2008 Tornados Fall In Overtime Thriller, 76-75 To Lincoln Memorial Brevard, NC - The men's basketball game between the Brevard College Tornados and the Lincoln Memorial University Railsplitters on Saturday afternoon was full of excitement as the game went down to the wire, with LMU sneaking away from Boshamer Gymnasium with a thrilling 76-75 overtime victory. (Box score) Both teams shot well in the first half, as Lincoln Memorial knocked down 12-of-23 attempts from the floor (52.2 percent), just slightly better than the Tornados who connected on 48 percent of their shots, going 12-of-25 from the field. The Tornados found themselves down early, as LMU took a 10 point lead at 22-12 with 11:21 to play in the first half. The Railsplitters would push the lead up to 12 points only minutes later before the Tornados came fighting back. A lay-up by sophomore Shane Galloway at the 7:35 mark, cut the LMU lead to 10 at 29-19, but more importantly started a 12-1 run for the Tornados over the next six minutes which was capped off by two made free throws by Andrew Freeman to put BC ahead for the first time in the game, 30-29, with 1:22 remaining in the half. Two late free throws by Emmanuel Njomo gave the lead back to Lincoln Memorial, as the Railsplitters took the 31-30 advantage into the halftime intermission. Coming out of the break, the Tornados' Jonathan Whitson hit a lay-up only 12 seconds into the half to have BC regain the lead at 32-31. However, the two teams would go-back-and-forth, exchanging the lead over the next six minutes, until a three-point basket by Trey Goins gave the Railsplitters the lead for good until the closing seconds of regulation. Lincoln Memorial would hold off the Tornados, answering every BC run with a basket of their own, but could not pull away as Brevard found themselves only down three with 1:10 remaining in the contest. BC's Whitson would cut the Lincoln Memorial lead to one at the 1:01 mark, as he knocked down two foul shots to put the score at 61-60. LMU's Beau Brown would hit two free throw shots of his own with 24 seconds on the clock to push the Railsplitters lead back to three at 63-60. On the next Tornado offensive possession, Whitson found an open Freeman three feet behind the three-point line. Freeman launched the shot attempt from long distance, knocking down the three-pointer to tie the score up at 63-63 with only 12 seconds to play. LMU got the last shot, as Ryan Whitaker too a three-point attempt but it was no good as the two teams headed into overtime. In overtime, the Tornados jumped out to an early two point lead off of two free throws by Whitson, only to have Lincoln Memorial go on an 8-0 run over the next three minutes of play to take a 71-67 lead with 1:30 to go in the game. The Tornados did not give in, but rather battled back to take a 75-73 lead off a lay-up by Whitson with 15 seconds remaining in the contest. The Railsplitters in-bounded the ball to Brown who pushed the ball up the floor, past mid-court and into the front court of LMU. Brown found himself double-teamed but somehow managed to escape the Tornado pressure and take a three-point shot attempt. On the attempt, Brown was able to draw contact and get the whistle as the official called a foul, putting LMU's preseason second team all-conference selection on the free throw line with six seconds remaining in the game. Brown would knock down all three shots from the charity stripe to put Lincoln Memorial ahead at 76-75. On the ensuing possession, after a BC timeout, the Tornados got the ball to mid-court where contact was made and the ball went bounding off and loose as the horn sounded with LMU holding on to the 76-75 point win. Whitson led the Tornados with 23 points and 13 rebounds, his fifth double-double of the season. Andrew Freeman had 16 points, hitting four three-pointers on the day, while freshman Tripp Taraldsen going 5-of-5 from the floor for 10 points off the BC bench. Lincoln Memorial was led by Brown's game-high 25 point performance. Fellow guard Ryan Whitaker and forward Wadner Joseph had 13 points apiece, while center Terry Delaney added 12 points down low for the Railsplitters. The loss drops Brevard to 3-19 overall, while Lincoln Memorial improves to 8-14 with the win. The Tornados remain winless over their South Atlantic Conference foes this season. -LMU- For additional
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