HARROGATE, Tenn. – After clinching at least a share of the 2019-20 South Atlantic Conference regular season title Wednesday night at UVA Wise, the Lincoln Memorial University men's basketball team won their seventh outright championship in the last 10 seasons Saturday with a 108-67 shellacking of Newberry inside B. Frank "Tex" Turner Arena. Earning their 17th 20-point victory, eighth 30-point win and fifth 40-point triumph of the season, the Railsplitters (25-1, 18-0) extended their nation-leading win streak to 25 to set both a league and program record for most consecutive wins.
 
Remaining perfect at home (14-0), in conference play (18-0) and in 2020 (13-0), LMU was nearly unstoppable offensively as the Railsplitters knocked down the second-most three pointers in a single game in school history and shot a remarkable 61.2 percent from the field. Going 23-for-40 (57.5%) from distance, LMU assisted on 33 of its 41 made baskets and had two-30 point scorers.
 
Senior point guard Anthony Brown became just the second Railsplitter to record a triple-double, accomplishing the rare feat with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists. The Clermont, Florida, native went 4-for-5 from the floor and 1-for-1 from both beyond the arc and at the foul line, adding a block and an assist to his line. He joins Dorian Pinson as the only two players in LMU history to have registered a triple-double. Pinson posted 10 points, 19 rebounds and 11 assists in a 108-76 win over Carson-Newman in Harrogate on Jan. 25, 2017. Brown's 13 assists were also a career best for the floor general and were just one shy of the school record.
 
Shooting over 60 percent for a full 40 minutes for the fifth time of the season, the Railsplitters' 23 made threes were the most in a game since hitting a program-record 30 in an 87-point blowout of Mars Hill in December of 2017. LMU's 33 assists marked the second time the Railsplitters have reached the 30-assist plateau in 2019-20 and tie for the fourth-most in program history.
 
Outscoring the visiting Wolves (12-12, 8-10) 61-24 in the second half, LMU got a game-high 32 points on 12-for-19 shooting from sophomore guard Courvoisier McCauley and 30 points on 11-for-17 shooting from redshirt junior guard Devin Whitfield. The two combined for 14 three pointers with McCauley going 6-for-10 from long range and Whitfield 8-for-13. McCauley also added seven rebounds and a block while Whitfield collected five boards, handed out a trio of assists and made two steals.
 
With four double-digit scorers, the Railsplitters had another near triple-double performance from redshirt sophomore guard Cameron Henry who poured in 14 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Going 4-for-6 from outside and 5-for-8 overall from the field, the Chesterfield, Virginia, native tied his career high with three blocks and added a pair of steals.
 
After Newberry scored the first five points of the contest, LMU went on a 9-2 run to take its first lead of the day on a three by Henry. A Whitfield trey put the Railsplitters up 12-7 just over five minutes in but the Wolves outscored the Blue and Gray 12-2 over the next three minutes of play to take a 19-14 lead on a long ball from Angelo Sales, Jr.
 
A minute of action later, Newberry held its largest lead of the game at 23-16 following a fastbreak jumper from Quandaveon McCollum. Over the next six minutes LMU outpaced the Wolves 18-11, tying things up at 34 on another Whitfield three pointer with five minutes to go before the break.
 
McCauley nailed a three to give the Railsplitters a 39-35 advantage with just under four minutes to go in the half before another McCauley trey gave the home team a six-point lead at 42-36. LMU took a 47-43 lead into the locker room after shooting 60 percent (18-of-30) in the opening half and going 9-for-16 (56.3%) from three-point land. Newberry shot 16-for-33 (48.5%) in the first 20 minutes of play and connected on five of its nine three-point attempts (55.6%) while going 6-for-8 at the charity stripe.
 
The Railsplitters began the second half on fire, scorching the nets for 27 points in the first nine-and-a-half minutes and building a 22-point lead at 74-52 thanks to a 27-9 run. Lighting it up from deep, LMU reached 80 points on a three from junior guard Alex Dahling with 9:41 to go.
 
Over a five minute stretch, the Railsplitters went on a 21-6 run to push their lead out to 34 at 98-64 on a McCauley layup with just under five minutes remaining. A three pointer from Anthony Brown got LMU to the century mark for the eighth time of the season and the Railsplitters ended the game on a 12-3 run, holding the visitors without a bucket for the final 5:15 of the game.
 
Shooting 62.2 percent (23-of-37) in the second half, LMU went 14-for-24 (58.3%) from outside and limited the Wolves to just seven second-half field goals on 7-for-31 shooting (22.6%). Newberry hit only two of 11 three-point attempts (18.2%) in the second half and earned eight of its 24 points at the free-throw line.
 
Thanks to the Railsplitters' stifling second-half defense, the Wolves were limited to 35.9 percent (23-of-64) shooting for the day and 7-for-20 (35%) three-point marksmanship.
 
The game saw only 20 combined turnovers, 10 by each team.
 
Newberry had five players reach double-figures led by Sales, Jr.'s 15 points and six rebounds. Marshall Lange, McCollum and TJ Brown each collected six boards for the Wolves to go along with 13, 12 and 10 points, respectively. Marcus Ford notched 10 points in 18 minutes off the bench.
 
LMU has now won eight SAC regular season title since 2010-11 and 12 conference championships, including SAC Tournament titles, in 10 years. One of only four NCAA Division II basketball programs to have posted 20 wins or more for 11-straight seasons, the Railsplitters have now reached the 25-win mark in nine of the last 10 years.
 
Up Next…
The Railsplitters are on the road this week for a pair of games in the Tar Heel State, traveling to Mars Hill Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off before heading to Salisbury, North Carolina, Saturday for a 4 p.m. tilt at Catawba.
 
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.