NEWBERRY, S.C. – For just the second time in the last 713 days, the Lincoln Memorial University men's basketball team suffered a true road defeat Saturday afternoon inside Eleazer Arena in Newberry, South Carolina. The fourth-ranked Railsplitters (16-2, 14-2 SAC) saw their nine-game win streak come to an abrupt halt as Newberry College earned a 71-66 win after restricting LMU to 43.1 percent (22-of-51) shooting.
 
Holding the Railsplitters to their lowest point total of the season, the Wolves (6-3, 6-3 SAC) outrebounded LMU 39-34 in the South Atlantic Conference upset and led for 19:24 of the game. Limited to 33.3 percent (7-of-21) outside shooting and going just 65.2 percent (15-of-23) at the free-throw line, the Railsplitters' last lead of the day came at the 2:51 mark of the first half. Newberry forced 16 LMU turnovers and scored 18 points off of the Railsplitters' miscues, while scoring 40 points in the paint and getting 12 points off of 11 offensive boards.
 
The loss is just LMU's second against a league opponent in the last two years.
 
"I thought Newberry was really good tonight," commented head coach Josh Schertz after the road affair. "They had the two best players on the floor by far in (Quandaveon) McCollum and (TJ) Brown, and they were the tougher team as evidenced by them destroying us on the glass. It's difficult to beat a good team when they get 15 more shots than you do, but that's a credit to them with the job they did on the glass and jamming the paint. They forced our guys to make quick reads on the drive. Unfortunately, instead of moving the ball on time we decided to play in crowds, which is where the majority of our turnovers occurred."
 
"Unfortunately, it gets no easier for us here down the stretch," added coach Schertz. "We will have to show a vastly improved level of effort, focus and mental toughness to win any of the remaining games on our schedule."
 
The Wolves shot 45.5 percent (30-of-66) for the 40 minutes and held a five-point advantage at the half. Despite the Railsplitters' best efforts of a late comeback, LMU was not able to overcome the physicality and hustle of Newberry. Uncharacteristic poor shooting and untimely turnovers turned out to be insurmountable for the Railsplitters.
 
LMU held the Wolves scoreless for the first three minutes of the contest and took an early 9-0 lead. After an 11-0 run by Newberry put the hosts ahead, the Railsplitters went on a 7-0 run to go up by five at 16-11 seven minutes in. A three pointer by senior guard Alex Dahling after 10 minutes of play put LMU in front by seven at 22-15 but the Railsplitters could not create further separation from the Wolves.
 
Leading 31-25 after a pair of free throws from redshirt sophomore guard/forward Xavier Bledson, LMU would see its lead quickly diminish. A 7-0 run by Newberry gave the home team its second lead of the day at 32-31 with 4:40 remaining in the half. The Railsplitters scored just three more points in the half as the Wolves closed the period on a 14-3 run. Newberry broke a 34-34 tie in the final minute of the half, scoring five points and getting a tip-in layup off a missed free throw as the clock expired to take 39-34 lead into the break.
 
Shooting 44 percent (11-of-25) from the field in the first 20 minutes of action, LMU hit five of its 12 first-half three-point attempts (41.7 percent) but missed four of its 11 foul shots. The Wolves connected on 47.4 percent (18-of-38) of their first-half field goal attempts but went 1-for-8 from deep.
 
In search of their typical explosive start to the second half, the Railsplitters got six quick points from redshirt senior guard Devin Whitfield to begin the final 20 minutes to get back within one at 41-40. A layup by redshirt junior guard Cameron Henry knotted up the score at 45 just over six minutes into the second half. However, a fast 7-2 run by Newberry put the Wolves back up by five at 52-47.
 
Holding LMU to without a field goal for over five minutes of play, Newberry built a nine-point lead with a three from Robin Bedford putting the Wolves up 59-50 with 8:33 left. Another Newberry three pointer with just under seven minutes to go made it an eight-point game at 62-54. With both teams scoreless for the ensuing 90 seconds a Henry trey ignited a strong comeback effort.
 
Junior forward Jordan Guest drained a corner three at the 3:08 mark, capping a 10-2 Railsplitter run and evening up the score at 64. Offense came at a premium in the closing minutes as the Wolves hit a pair of free throws to go up 66-64 before Guest earned a trip to the foul line with just under two minutes remaining. He knocked down both free throws to knot things up once more at 66. After a Guest defensive rebound, LMU had a chance to take the lead on a corner three by junior point guard Julius Brown but a miss led to a layup on the other end of the court as Newberry went in front 68-66 with just under a minute left.
 
With just under 30 seconds to go the Railsplitters got another good look in the corner, but Brown's three rimmed out and the Wolves hit a trio of free throws in the closing seconds to secure the victory. Whitfield had one final shot for LMU but was unable to connect on a deep three from the top of the key with a little less than 10 seconds remaining.
 
Held to 42.3 percent (11-of-26) shooting in the second half, the Railsplitters hit just two of their nine second-half three-point attempts (22.2 percent) and went 8-for-12 (66.7 percent) at the foul line. Newberry wasn't much better in the half, going 12-for-28 (42.9 percent) from the floor, 3-for-12 from long range (25 percent) and 5-for-9 (55.6 percent) at the charity stripe.
 
Henry led the way for LMU, scoring 17 points and distributing a team-high five assists. Whitfield and Dahling both finished with 13 points as Whitfield went 5-for-10 from the field and secured eight rebounds while Dahling knocked down a trio of first-half three pointers. Guest had another near double-double, scoring 12 and grabbing a team-best nine boards.
 
The Wolves had two 20-point scorers with TJ Brown (25) and Quandaveon McCollum (21) combining for 46 of Newberry's 71 points. Malakhi Stremlow hauled in a game-high 10 rebounds for the Wolves and Andrew Robinson pulled down eight boards and dished out four assists.
 
Up Next…
The Railsplitters continue their four-game road trip Wednesday, Feb. 17 when LMU heads to nearby Greeneville, Tennessee, to take on the Pioneers of Tusculum in an 8 p.m. affair. Next Saturday, Feb. 20 the Railsplitters travel to Charlotte, North Carolina, to face the nationally-ranked Royals of Queens University of Charlotte at 4:30 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 2020-21 season.