HARROGATE, Tenn. – Holding visiting Anderson University to just 30 percent shooting, the second-ranked Lincoln Memorial University men's basketball team earned its 27th-straight South Atlantic Conference victory with an 87-58 win Wednesday night inside B. Frank "Tex" Turner Arena. The Railsplitters (7-0, 5-0 SAC) used a balanced attack on offense and very sound defense to notch their national-best 39th consecutive triumph.
 
Despite shooting under 60 percent for the first time in four outings, LMU still racked up 87 points, scored 46 points in the paint and assisted on 23 of its 33 made baskets. Recording a season-high 51 rebounds, the Railsplitters got 15 second-chance points and outscored the Trojans (1-2, 1-2 SAC) 21-5 off of the fast break. LMU also capitalized on Anderson's 14 miscues, claiming 21 points off of runovers.
 
Connecting on 10 of their 23 three-point attempts (43.5 percent), the Railsplitters shot 46.5 percent (33-of-71) overall from the floor and went 11-for-15 (73.3 percent) at the foul line, while holding the Trojans to a 29.9 percent (20-of-67) shooting clip. The visitors were limited to 5-for-23 (21.7 percent) outside shooting and did not lead after the 16:30 mark of the first half.
 
Paced by two-time defending SAC AstroTurf Player of the Week Devin Whitfield, who tallied his first double-double of 2020-21 with a game-high 20 points and a season-best 11 rebounds, LMU had four players reach double figures in scoring. True freshman guard/forward Jordan Walters made his first career start and made the most of it, registering a career-high 13 points on 4-for-8 shooting and grabbing a career-high six boards. He knocked down both of his three pointers and went 3-for-4 at the free-throw line.
 
Finding themselves in a 6-0 hole after the opening two minutes of play, the Railsplitters responded with a dominant 15-0 run over the next 3:18. An 11-5 Anderson run over the ensuing five minutes of action resulted in the Trojans creeping within three (20-17) at the midway point of the first half. Another impressive stretch by LMU was capped with a three from Whitfield, completing a three-minute 11-0 spurt as the Railsplitters built a 31-17 lead.
 
A layup by senior guard Alex Dahling closed out a 12-2 run and put LMU ahead 43-24 with just under two minutes remining in the half. The Railsplitters took a 17-point, 45-28 advantage into the break after shooting 48.5 percent (16-of-33) in the first half. Anderson was held to 30.3 percent (10-for-33) first-half shooting before being outscored 42-30 in the second half.
 
Junior starting point guard Julius Brown completed an 11-2 LMU run with a layup, mounting the Railsplitters' lead to 27 at 63-36 with just over 12-and-a-half minutes to go. From there, LMU would continue to pull further ahead, going up by 35 at 75-40 with a pair of Whitfield free throws. Moments later, the Railsplitters held their largest lead of the night at 38 when redshirt freshman guard Luke Bartemes sunk a deep ball off an assist from redshirt sophomore guard Chase Rankin.
 
LMU stayed comfortably in front for the remaining 5:45 of play, closing out the second half with a 44.7 percent (17-pf-38) shooting mark and going 5-for-11 (45.5 percent) from deep. Once again in the second half, the Trojans were held to only 10 made field goals (10-of-34) and connected on just two of their 10 three-point tries despite going 8-for-8 at the charity stripe.
 
Redshirt senior guard Whitfield stuffed the stat sheet with season-highs in both assists (4) and steals (3) to go along with his double-double effort. Dahling finished with 13 points and a season-best seven rebounds, while redshirt junior guard Cameron Henry posted 11 points, five rebounds and four assists. Brown scored nine and redshirt sophomore guard/forward Xavier Bledson totaled five points, five rebounds and four assists in 11 minutes of action. Sophomore point guard Jeremiah Keene scored six points and dished out four assists.
 
Jalen Hillery led Anderson with 14 points as Alex Keel scored 11 off the bench as the Trojans' only other double-figure scorer. The Railsplitters held preseason All-SAC First Team guard Quin Nottingham to nine points on 3-for-12 shooting, while Josh Livingston secured a team-high eight boards and scored five points.


 
Up Next…
LMU hits the road for a pair of games at Lenoir-Rhyne Saturday and at Limestone next Wednesday, Jan. 13. Tip-off between the Railsplitters and the Bears Saturday is set for 4:30 p.m. from inside Shuford Memorial Gymnasium. Next week's tilt in Gaffney, South Carolina, is slated for 8 p.m. The Saturday, Jan. 16 home matchup with Mars Hill has been postponed due to COVID-19 circumstances within the Lion program.  
 
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 2020-21 season.