OWENSBORO, Ky. – Sophomore guard Courvoisier McCauley came up short on a step-back three pointer with four seconds remaining, but redshirt sophomore guard Cameron Henry grabbed the miss and laid it in for a thrilling 77-75 Lincoln Memorial University men's basketball non-conference road win at Kentucky Wesleyan Sunday. Knotted up at 75-all with 14 seconds to go, Railsplitter head coach Josh Schertz elected not to take a timeout and Henry's put-back gave LMU its 12th-straight victory and a 12-1 record heading into the Christmas break.
 
The Sunday afternoon affair saw 14 lead changes and six ties as the eight-time national champion Panthers (4-7) out of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference controlled for the majority of the game.
 
The Railsplitters were able to overcome a 32-29 rebounding deficit and a 40-9 point differential off the bench. Trailing by as much as six in the second half, LMU got consecutive baskets from McCauley and then seven-straight points from redshirt junior guard Devin Whitfield in the closing minutes to earn its first ever win over Kentucky Wesleyan inside the Owensboro Sportscenter in Owensboro, Kentucky.
 
Despite being outscored 11-2 in second-chance points, the Railsplitters collected 14 points off of 12 Kentucky Wesleyan turnovers and were nearly perfect from the free-throw line (12-for-13).
 
A layup from redshirt senior forward Rhondi Hackett put LMU ahead 12-4 after just over five minutes of play. However, the Panthers would go on a lengthy 19-5 run over the next 8:18 of on-court action to take a six-point, 23-17 lead with 6:40 to go in the half. A layup by Kentucky Wesleyan's Stew Currie put the Panthers in front 27-21 with 4:39 left in the half before the Railsplitters went on a 14-9 run. A pair of free throws from senior point guard Anthony Brown got LMU within one at 36-35 heading into the locker room.
 
The Railsplitters shot 50 percent (14-of-28) from the field in the first half and were 3-for-5 (60 percent) from downtown, while the Panthers went 15-for-33 (45.5%) from the floor and 6-for-13 (46.2%) from three-point range.
 
A traditional three-point play and a jumper put the home team back out in front by six to start the second half but consecutive trips to the free-throw line by Henry and Whitfield got LMU within two at 41-39. Moments later, Whitfield rose up and nailed a three pointer to tie up the game at 46 just over four minutes into the second half. From there, Kentucky Wesleyan would outscore the Railsplitters 11-6 over the next three minutes of play to take a five-point advantage at 57-52.
 
A 10-4 LMU run over the next four-and-a-half minutes of action was capped by a fastbreak Whitfield layup, giving the Railsplitters their first lead of the second half at 62-61 with 8:36 to go. Scoring came at a premium for the next few minutes of play with four lead changes until McCauley hit back-to-back jumpers to put LMU up 68-65 at the 4:19 mark. The Railsplitters would not trail for the remainder of the contest and took their largest lead of the day on a Whitfield three, pulling in front 71-65 with 3:40 left.
 
The Panthers would get a pair of free throws to go on their next possession, but a Whitfield jumper put LMU back up by six at 73-67 with just under three minutes to go. A similar succession of events ensued with a Whitfield layup neutralizing two more Kentucky Wesleyan foul shots. Leading 75-69 with 2:14 remaining, the Panthers went on a 6-0 run over the following two minutes of play with back-to-back layups from guard Adam Goetz and two Currie free throws. The made foul shots tied things up at 75, leading to Henry's game winner in the final seconds.
 
The Railsplitters connected on 51.7 percent (29-of-57) of their shots in the second half and went 4-for-12 from long range as Kentucky Wesleyan went 14-for-28 (50%) from the floor and 3-for-7 (42.9%) from outside. All told, LMU shot 50.9 percent (29-of-57) for the game and finished the day 7-for-17 (41.2%) from three-point land. The Panthers were 47.5 percent (29-of-61) from the field in the 40 minutes, including 45 percent (9-for-20) from deep, and went 8-for-13 (61.5%) at the charity stripe.
 
Whitfield led all scorers with 25 points on 10-for-16 shooting, was 3-for-6 from long range and grabbed a season-high eight rebounds. McCauley finished with 14 points, while Hackett scored a season-best 12 after going 6-for-8 from the field and Henry collected nine points. Anthony Brown added eight points and a team-high seven assists.
 
Kentucky Wesleyan had four double-digit scorers led by Goetz' 18 points and game-high eight assists. Currie scored 15 points and had 10 rebounds for the Panthers as Zach Hopewell poured in 13 and Wyatt Battaile added 12 points and six rebounds.
 
Up Next…
The Railsplitters will have a 13-day break from game action before beginning the new year and returning to South Atlantic Conference play Saturday, Jan. 4 at Newberry. Tip-off from inside Eleazer Arena in South Carolina is scheduled for 4 p.m.
 
How to Follow
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.