HARROGATE, Tenn. – The No. 1 Railsplitters rallied from a nine-point, first-half deficit to take down Carson-Newman and clinch at least a share of their sixth consecutive South Atlantic Conference regular-season title with an 89-77 victory on Wednesday night at Tex Turner Arena.
 
Powered by heroic efforts off the bench from Deshawn Patterson and Kamaran Calhoun, Lincoln Memorial (26-1, 19-0 SAC) found a way to grind out a win to push its overall winning streak to 15 games and extend its SAC-record conference winning streak to 33. On top of that, the Railsplitters beat the rival Eagles (21-6, 13-6 SAC) for the fourth consecutive time to move to 105-101 in the all-time series.
 
"Credit Carson-Newman for coming out and really being creative with a solid game plan. Against good teams it's not going to be easy, it's supposed to be hard," said LMU head coach Josh Schertz. "We had to dig in, fight and scratch. I was actually pleased, not necessarily with everything we did, but I thought we showed resiliency and toughness.
 
"It was good for us. We haven't been in that situation a whole lot where you're coming down the stretch of a game, it's tight and you have to find a way to get stops, rebounds and execute in the half court. And we did that."
 
The Railsplitters trailed by as many as nine points in the first half, but rallied back to take a slim one-point at the break. Lincoln Memorial never trailed in the second half, however, Carson-Newman never quite went away, either, pulling to within four points with just five minutes left in regulation. The Railsplitters answered the bell, though, using a late 7-0 run to bury the Eagles for good.
 
Four Railsplitter starters finished with at least four fouls in the contest, but Patterson and Calhoun came to the rescue by combining for 35 points in the come-from-behind victory.
 
Patterson matched a game-high mark with 19 points – one shy of his career high – on 8-for-12 shooting, including a 3-for-5 mark from three-point range. In addition to that, the sophomore, who scored 10 of his 19 points in the first half, handed out a team-high four assists. Calhoun pitched in 16 points and nine rebounds while finishing 6-of-8 from the field in just 26 minutes of action.
 
"Without them we don't have a chance," Schertz said. "We had some guys that didn't have a great night individually in the starting five. Deshawn made play after play. He gave us a spark in the first half, rallied us back and got the game back on even footing.
 
"Kamaran is playing through a number of injuries. We're trying to squeeze everything we can out of him and he was outstanding. We have no chance without the efforts of those guys."
 
Cornelius Taylor scored 18 points, with 10 coming in the second half, on 6-of-13 shooting, while Dorian Pinson added 16 points, 13 rebounds and three assists. Trevon Shaw chipped in 13 points on a forgettable 5-for-12 shooting performance.
 
Lincoln Memorial shot 49 percent in the contest and went 11-for-26 from three-point range while holding Carson-Newman to a 38 percent clip and a 9-for-28 effort from three.
 
Shaun Jones led the Eagles with a monster 19-point, 16-rebound performance, while Charles Clark scored 18 points with five boards and three assists. Grant Teichmann was the only other Eagle in double figures with 11 points and eight rebounds.
 
The Railsplitters jumped out to an 11-9 lead on a three-point play from Terry, who finished with just five points in the game, with 14:29 left in the half. However, Carson-Newman held Lincoln Memorial scoreless for more than two and a half minutes to power an 11-0 run that gave the Eagles a 20-11 cushion at the under-12 media timeout.
 
The Eagles maintained a firm grasp on the lead throughout most of the remainder of the first half and even pushed their advantage back to six on a three-pointer from Clark with 3:39 left. However, a 9-0 Railsplitter run capped by a Taylor three-pointer with 38 seconds left gave the home team a 43-40 lead. Carson-Newman, who led for over 14 minutes in the half, scored the final two points on a pair of free throws, to cut the halftime deficit to 43-42.
 
The Railsplitters then stormed out of the gate in the second half, outscoring the Eagles 21-9 through the first 6:49 to pull ahead 64-51 on a jumper from Patterson.
 
Lincoln Memorial would take its largest lead of the game at 67-53 on another three-pointer from Taylor at the 10:39 mark, and the cushion would hover in that vicinity until a 9-0 Eagles' run closed the gap to 72-68 with 6:46 to play.
 
With Carson-Newman still within four points, Shaw hit arguably the biggest shot of the game with a three-pointer at the top of the key with 4:43 left that kick-started a 7-0 run. Taylor capped that spurt with a pair of free throws to put the Railsplitters ahead 83-72 with 2:34 left to play.
 
The Railsplitters' lead never dipped below eight points from that point on, as Lincoln Memorial cruised to its 21st straight home win.
 
The Railsplitters clinched at worst a share of their sixth straight SAC regular-season title, and they will have a chance to claim the outright championship on Saturday when the No. 2 nationally ranked Queens Royals come calling. Queens is also 26-1 this season with its only loss coming at the hands of the Railsplitters.
 
Lincoln Memorial and Queens are also ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the Southeast Region poll. The Railsplitters hosted the Southeast Regional in 2015 and 2016 while the Royals hosted that tournament in 2017. It will be just the 15th all-time meeting between the nation's No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams.
 
"We are going to have to play our absolute best game of the year to have a chance," Schertz said. "We know what's at stake. We'll have to be at our absolute best in every way, shape and form. It's an unbelievable challenge."
 
The Railsplitters tip off against the Royals at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Tex Turner Arena. Lincoln Memorial will be offering free admission for that contest as part of its Pack the House promotional event. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3 as part of the Division II Basketball Showcase.