HARROGATE, Tenn. – Extending the longest winning streak in all of NCAA basketball, the Lincoln Memorial University men's basketball team earned its 21st-straight South Atlantic Conference game Wednesday night inside B. Frank "Tex" Turner Arena with an 83-65 victory over Tusculum University.
 
The 2019-20 SAC regular season champion Railsplitters (28-1, 21-0) pushed their program and conference record to 28 wins in a row in a physical affair in Harrogate, using a 19-4 run to close out the final six minutes of the first half.
 
Remaining perfect in league play, at home (15-0) and in 2020 (16-0), LMU outrebounded one of the nation's top rebounding teams 44-40 and outscored a tall Pioneers squad 38-18 in the paint. LMU led by 16 at the half and stayed in front of visiting Tusculum (18-11, 13-8) for all but three minutes of the night.
 
Assisting on 22 of their 29 made field goals, the Railsplitters shot 52.7 percent (29-of-55) for the game, including 40 percent (10-of-25) from deep, and held the Pioneers to 28.8 percent (21-of-73) from the floor. The 65 points allowed were the fewest for LMU in the month of February.

Anchored by another near triple-double night from senior point guard Anthony Brown, who accounted for eight points, a game-high eight assists and seven rebounds, the Railsplitters got a game-best 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting from redshirt junior guard Devin Whitfield. For the second-straight game, sophomore guard Courvoisier McCauley registered a double-double performance with a game-high and season-best tying 11 rebounds and 11 points. It is the Indianapolis native's fourth double-double of the season and sixth of his career.
 
Redshirt sophomore guard Cameron Henry poured in 15 points, grabbed five boards and mad a trio of steals, while redshirt senior forward Rhondi Hackett set a season high and tied his career-best with five blocks. Sophomore guard Julius Brown scored nine off the bench.
 
An emphatic breakaway one-handed slam by Anthony Brown off an outlet pass from Henry drew the crowd's attention and gave the Railsplitters a 7-2 lead within the first two minutes of action. Following eight minute of play, the two teams stood deadlocked at 12-12 before Whitfield buried a deep three to break the tie. Both squads would score just seven points over a five-minute span as the score became knotted at 19 on a layup by Tusculum's Justin Mitchell.
 
Once again, an LMU trey broke the tie with Henry dialing things up from distance. Leading by just one point at 22-21 at the 6:05 mark of the first half, the Railsplitters would go on an impressive 19-4 run to take a commanding 41-25 lead into the locker room.
 
LMU shot 52 percent (13-of-25) in the first 20 minutes of play and went 7-for-16 (43.8%) from long range, while holding the Pioneers to just eight first-half field goals on 23.5 percent (8-for-34) shooting.
 
Another three pointer by Whitfield and a layin by Julius Brown gave the hosts their first 20-point lead of the night at 46-25, before the Railsplitters got a jumper in the paint from Henry to remain in front by 20 at 51-31 following the first four minutes of second-half action.
 
Whitfield pulled up for yet another three to give LMU its largest lead of the contest at 24 points (55-31) with 14 minutes to go.
 
After Tusculum trimmed the deficit down to 17, the Railsplitters went on a 12-5 run capped by a Whitfield layup to push their lead back out to 24 at 70-46 with nine-and-a-half minutes remaining. From there, the Pioneers went on a 17-7 run over the following five-and-a-half minutes of play, making it a 14-point game at 77-63.
 
Allowing just one more Tusculum bucket for the rest of the night, LMU closed things out with a pair of Julius Brown free throws.
 
The Railsplitters shot 52 percent (13-of-25) in the second half but connected on just three of their nine three-point attempts (33.3%) and went 59.1 percent (13-of-22) at the foul line. The Pioneers were limited to 33.3 percent (13-of-39) second-half shooting but went 5-for-11 (45.5%) from beyond the arc and 9-for-11 (81.8%) at the charity stripe to finish 8-for-21 (38.1%) from outside and 15-for-17 (88.2%) at the free-throw line.
 
Trenton Gibson paced Tusculum with 16 points and six rebounds, while Dillon Smith hit three of his four three pointers to finish with 13 points and three assists. DyQuavis Wilkins had 12 points and seven rebounds for the Pioneers as Brandon Mitchell collected a team-high eight boards and made four steals.
 
LMU has won eight SAC regular season titles since 2010-11 and 12 conference championships, including four SAC Tournament crowns, in 10 seasons. One of only four NCAA Division II basketball programs to have posted 20 wins or more for 11-straight seasons, the Railsplitters have reached the 25-win mark in nine of the last 10 years.
 
Up Next…
The Railsplitters return to game action Saturday afternoon for a Senior Day showdown with Anderson at 4 p.m. inside Tex Turner Arena. Presented by Boone's BP, Saturday afternoon's contest will be dedicated to seniors Anthony Brown, Kamaran Calhoun, Rhondi Hackett and Myles Smith.  
 
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.