ANDERSON, S.C. – Rhondi Hackett sunk a put-back layup with .4 seconds left to send the Railsplitters past the Anderson Trojans 102-101 in a double-overtime thriller on Wednesday night at the Abney Athletic Center in Anderson, S.C.
In Lincoln Memorial's first double-overtime contest since the 2015-16 season, Hackett's game-winning bucket put the finishing touches on a game that was filled with late heroics, as the Railsplitters (6-3, 3-1 SAC) got back on the wagon while handing Anderson (5-3, 1-2 SAC) its first home loss of the season in a pivotal early-season South Atlantic Conference showdown.
"I thought we had a number of guys make some big time plays on the offensive end," said head coach
Josh Schertz. "We obviously needed every single one of them with the way we defended, but again I thought we played with good force and purpose offensively. At the end of the day, we found a way against a quality team on the road. I'm proud of our guys and the competitive will they showed down the stretch."
The game featured an insane 15 ties and 15 lead changes over the course of its over two-hour run time.
The Railsplitters trailed by as many as 13 points and faced as large as a seven-point deficit in the second half, but stayed within striking distance down the stretch to set up a dramatic finish.
Trailing 69-68 with just over a minute left in regulation,
Cornelius Taylor made the first of several clutch shots for Lincoln Memorial by finishing off a three-point play to put the Railsplitters ahead 71-69.
The Trojans tied it on the other end and eventually took the lead with a pair of free-throws with 27 seconds left.
Alex Dahling had a look at the potential game-winning three but missed the mark. However,
Anthony Brown came soaring in from the left wing to tip in the game-tying bucket with eight ticks left.
Anderson missed their last-second heave on the other end to send the game to overtime.
The Railsplitters led throughout much of the first overtime until a 5-0 solo run from Gage Ellis gave the Trojans an 84-81 lead with less than two minutes to play.
That lead was short-lived, though, as Brown buried a quick three-pointer from the top of the key with 1:39 left to tie the game back up at 84-84.
The Trojans again took the lead on a bucket from Ellis on the other end. Brown drew a foul on the next LMU possession but missed one of his free-throw attempts to keep Anderson in front by a point. Jeremy Bouton then connected on 1-of-2 free throws to extend the Anderson lead to 87-85 with 16 seconds left.
However, the Railsplitters came up clutch again, as Dahling drove into the lane and hit a right-handed runner with nine seconds on the clock to tie it up at 87-87 and force another overtime.
Lincoln Memorial jumped all over Anderson in the second overtime and pulled ahead 93-87 thanks to three free throws from Taylor and a three from
Courvoisier McCauley.
However, the Trojans fought their way back at the free-throw, converting their attempts while taking advantage of some missed freebies by the Railsplitters, and eventually pulled back in front 101-100 on two free throws from Shawn Benard.
A late substitution then proved to be the final difference, as Hackett, who was brought into the game right before Anderson's previous free-throw attempts, rebounded Taylor's look at three and put the game to bed with a bucket. He was also fouled on the play, but missed his free-throw attempt. There was not, however, time for Anderson to get off a final shot.
Taylor led a group of six Railsplitters in double figures with 23 points with nearly half coming from an 11-for-14 effort at the free-throw line. He added seven rebounds, two steals and two assists. McCauley and
Kamaran Calhoun chipped in 16 points apiece, with Calhoun going 12-for-16 at the charity stripe before fouling out.
Anthony Brown secured another double-double with 15 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and two steals, while Dahling added 15 points and four boards.
Hackett's game-winning score was just his second basket of the contest as he finished with four points and one rebound in six minutes of work.
Ellis powered Anderson with an otherworldly 37-point performance that was bolstered by a 21-for-23 performance at the free-throw line. He added seven rebounds in 43 minutes of work.
As a team, the Trojans went 37-for-45 at the free-throw line, while the Railsplitters went 35-for-51 in a game that featured a combined 67 foul calls.
Benard and Bouton added 17 points apiece for the Trojans, while Satchel Hester had 14 points and a team-leading eight rebounds in 38 minutes off the bench.
Neither side shot it particularly well. The Trojans had the slight edge overall with a 41 percent mark from the field. The Railsplitters shot just under that mark at 40 percent while going 9-for-32 from three-point range.
The Railsplitters' eventual elation seemed improbable at points in the first half and early in the second half.
A pair of buckets from Calhoun sandwiched around a three-pointer from Dahling comprised a 7-0 run that gave the Railsplitters an early 7-2 lead, but an old-fashioned three-point play from Andrew Boynton capped a 5-0 Anderson run that tied the game.
Another triple from Dahling pushed the Railsplitters back ahead 12-9 until the Trojans scored six unanswered points – capped by a jumper and three from Bouton – to grab a 15-12 edge.
Anderson pushed its lead to as many as six over the next passage of play, but McCauley's second three-pointer in a 40-second stretch closed the gap to 28-27 with 6:47 remaining in the half.
However, the Trojans regained the momentum again after that as Ellis buried two free throws to set off a 12-0 run that was topped by back-to-back threes from Benard and Hester. That flurry gave Anderson its largest lead of the half at 40-27 with 3:28 left.
The Railsplitters turned their fortunes around down the closing stretch of the half, as Taylor connected on back-to-back three-pointers to fuel a 10-0 run that trimmed the deficit to 40-37.
Despite that, Ellis canned a jumper with time winding down in the first half to send Anderson into the break with a 42-37 cushion.
The Railsplitters continued to trail until Dahling canned a three with 13:05 on the clock, which put the road team on top briefly 51-49.
However, the Trojans scored seven unanswered points over the next stretch, capped by a thunderous dunk from Hester, to steam ahead 56-51 with just over 10 minutes to play.
The Railsplitters continued to hang around after that, setting up the wild closing run that would clinch LMU's first-ever overtime win against Anderson.
Quick Hits
- The Railsplitters found a way to win despite shooting 32 percent in the second half, including a 1-for-9 mark from three
- Lincoln Memorial dominated the boards, out-rebounding Anderson 57-44. The Railsplitters also scored 13 second-chance points, including the game-winning points.
- The Railsplitters matched a program-record with 35 made free throws, tying a mark set against West Alabama in January 1996. They set a program-record with 51 attempts.
- LMU beat Anderson for the 12th straight time while improving to 14-7 in the all-time series.
Up Next
The Railsplitters begin a four-game homestand on Saturday with a matchup against Wingate. That South Atlantic Conference tilt is set for a 4 p.m. tip.
