HARROGATE, Tenn. – After a sluggish start, the Lincoln Memorial University men's basketball team cruised to an 87-55 victory over visiting Clayton State Friday night in the Railsplitters' 2019-20 home opener. Outscoring the Lakers (0-1) 50-12 in the paint and forcing 22 turnovers, LMU (2-1) scored 23 points off of Clayton State's miscues and got a 39-point contribution from its bench.
 
Led by redshirt sophomore guard Cameron Henry's second career double-double of 12 points and a career-high 14 rebounds and redshirt senior forward Kamaran Calhoun's game-high 17 points and career-high four blocks, the Railsplitters outscored the Lakers by 22 in the second half.
 
For the first time in program history (minimum 10 attempts), LMU was flawless at the free-throw line as the Railsplitters went a perfect 17-for-17 thanks to Calhoun going 5-for-5 and Henry 4-for-4.
 
LMU led by 10 at 34-24 following the first 20 minutes of action in the 2019 South Atlantic vs. Peach Belt Conference's second tilt, but the Railsplitters went on a 20-6 run over the first nine minutes of the second half. An emphatic two-handed slam by Calhoun at the 13:04 mark of the second half put LMU in front by 21 at 49-28, and a three-point dagger from junior guard Alex Dahling put the home team up by 24 after 8:15 of second-half play.
 
Maintaining an over 20-point advantage for the remainder of the affair, the Railsplitters put together a four-minute 16-4 run late in the second half to push their lead to the largest of the night at 34 (78-44) with 3:25 on the clock. Getting a second three from Dahling, LMU used back-to-back buckets from Henry, a three-pointer from freshman guard Jeremiah Keene and a fast-break layup by sophomore guard Courvoisier McCauley during the game-clinching run.
 
After shooting 35.1 percent (13-of-37) in the first half, the Railsplitters went 19-for-39 (48.7%) in the second half of action to finish the game 32-for-76 (42.1%). LMU held the Clayton State to 30 percent shooting (18-of-60) inside Tex Turner Arena as the Lakers made just nine field goals in each half and were 4-for-22 (18.2%) from deep.
 
The Railsplitters assisted on 23 of its 32 made baskets.
 
McCauley turned in his third-straight double-figure scoring game, collecting 13 points and adding four rebounds and three assists. Senior guard Anthony Brown also had another strong outing, grabbing seven rebounds, dishing out a game-high six assists and scoring 10. Keene scored eight points on 3-of-5 shooting, including going 2-for-3 from beyond the arc, and handed out a trio of assists in just 5:23 on the court. Redshirt junior guard Devin Whitfield tallied nine points and five assists, not to mention claiming four rebounds.
 
The Lakers got a team-high 13 points and six boards from forward John Mason, while both Ricardo Saams, Jr. and Arusha Hunter contributed seven points each. Both Kyle Kincey and Mehdi Pissis collected a team-high seven rebounds apiece for Clayton State.
 
LMU has now won 12 consecutive home openers dating back to the 2008-09 season.
 
How to Follow
All games of the 2019 SAC vs. Peach Belt Conference Challenge are being streamed live on the LMU Sports Network with the voice of the Railsplitters, Rusty Peace, providing play-by-play commentary for both of LMU's games. Live statistics of all four tournament game can be followed by visiting LMURailsplitters.com. In-game updates will be available on LMU Railsplitter athletics' official Twitter account, @LMURailsplitter.
 
2019 SAC vs. Peach Belt Conference Challenge Schedule
 
Friday, Nov. 8
Tusculum 93, rv USC Aiken 63
No. 6 LMU 87, Clayton State 55
 
Saturday, Nov. 9
Clayton State vs. Tusculum | 2 p.m.
No. 6 LMU vs. rv USC Aiken | 4 p.m.
 
Up Next…
The Railsplitters will take on receiving votes USC Aiken tomorrow afternoon to close out the 2019 SAC vs. Peach Belt Conference Challenge. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m. from inside Tex Turner Arena. Next weekend, LMU will host receiving votes Christian Brothers Saturday, Nov. 16 in a 2 p.m. tip-off, before welcoming Johnson University (Tenn.) to Harrogate Tuesday, Nov. 19. The Railsplitters open up SAC play Saturday, Nov. 23 at Wingate.
 
On Social
Stay tuned to LMURailsplitters.com, as well as LMU's social media platforms - @LMURailsplitter on Twitter, @LMURailsplitters on Facebook and @lmurailsplitters on Instagram, for complete coverage of Railsplitter basketball throughout the 2019-20 season.