Jefferson City, TN - The Lincoln Memorial men's basketball team was back on the road Wednesday against conference opponent Carson-Newman, seeking to sweep the Eagles in the regular season. When the teams met in early January, Lincoln Memorial took a decisive victory at home. The Railsplitters entered the contest with a 15-5 record, a 9-2 mark in conference play, and a six game winning streak. The Eagles entered the contest with a 15-4 record, an 8-3 mark in conference play, and a two game winning streak.

The Railsplitters got off to a good start, jumping out to a 5-2 early lead before Carson-Newman battled back to within a point at 8-7. The teams traded buckets for a few possessions before the Eagles took their first lead of the game at 16-14 with 11:40 left in the first half. A 5-0 run saw the Carson-Newman lead swell to 21-14 before a three pointer from Wes Enis ended a 2:20 scoring drought for Lincoln Memorial, bringing the score to 21-17. Over the next five minutes, the Eagles outscored the Railsplitters 18-11 to extend their lead to 10 points, 39-29. The lead swelled to as many as 12 points before Lincoln Memorial cut things down to single digits on the heels of a 6-0 run late in the half. Carson-Newman took a 48-39 advantage into the halftime intermission.

To start the second half, both teams picked up right where they left off in the first. Carson-Newman maintained a nine point advantage until the 11:50 mark of the second half, 62-53. Lincoln Memorial began to chip away, drawing back to within seven points, 65-58. Over the course of the next five minutes, the Eagles went on a 10-4 run to extend their lead to 75-62 with under five minutes remaining. Lincoln Memorial's defense held fast following the run, holding Carson-Newman to a three minutes scoring drought as the margin decreased to 10 points, 77-67. As the clock crept below two minutes, the Railsplitters continued to fight, drawing the score to 79-72 with 1:49 on the clock. The margin remained at seven points in favor of Carson-Newman as the clock ticked down to under one minute, 83-76, with :43 remaining. The margin would remain at seven points in favor of the Eagles until, with under 10-seconds remaining, Carson-Newman connected on its final bucket of the game, bringing the game to its final score, 91-82.

Freshman Wes Enis erupted for a career-high 31 points to lead Lincoln Memorial. The young phenom added four rebounds and three assist. He was followed in scoring by Chase Rankin with 14 points, seven assists, and seven rebounds. Me'Kell Burries chipped in 13 points. Martez Brown tallied his 14th double double of the season, the best in the nation, with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Jordan Walters added 12 points and four rebounds to round out scoring for the Railsplitters.

With the loss, Lincoln Memorial moved to 15-6 on the season with a 9-3 mark in conference play. The Railsplitters will be back at home on Wednesday Feb. 7 for a match up with Emory & Henry,