Hickory, NC - The two hottest teams in the South Atlantic Conference met for a top 25 match up to start the 2025 calendar year. The 9th-ranked Lincoln Memorial men's basketball team, riding a seven game winning streak, took to Hickory, NC for a match up with the 21st-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne Bears who were on an eight game winning streak of their own.

From the beginning, it was evident that both teams were extremely talented and competing at a very high level right to start the year. The lead changed hands six times in the first half. Lenoir-Rhyne jumped out to a 4-0 lead before a 5-0 run from Lincoln Memorial saw the Railsplitters take their first lead of the game, 5-4. The teams continued to trade buckets, seeing the score jump to 13-9 in favor of Lincoln Memorial. After taking a 15-12 lead, the Bears responded with a 5-0 run to regain the lead, 17-15. The Railsplitters tied the game at 19-19 before Lenoir-Rhyne closed the first half on a 17-7 run to take a 36-26 lead into the locker room at the half. Wes Enis carried Lincoln Memorial through the first half with 12 points. Tay Smith led Lenoir-Rhyne through the first half with 13 points and was aided by three other players with seven points each, including 7'2" big man Conrad Luczynski. The Bears out rebounded the Railsplitters 24-16 in the first half and outscored Lincoln Memorial 22-12 in the paint. Lincoln Memorial forced 11 turnovers in the first half.

The Railsplitters started to chip away at the Bears' lead to start the second half. On the heels of an 11-8 run, Lincoln Memorial cut the lead back to within single digits, 44-37. The Railsplitters continued to chip away, cutting back to within a single point 50-49 with 11:30 remaining in the game. Continued offensive pressure allowed Lincoln Memorial to regain the lead 54-53 with less than 10 minutes to go in the game. The Railsplitters lead grew to 58-54 following a massive in-lane dunk by Elyjah Freeman with less than eight minutes remaining in regulation. A 5-0 run allowed Lenoir-Rhyne to regain the lead 59-58 with 7:06 remaining in the game. The Bears continued to grow the lead, taking a 63-58 advantage as the clock crept below six minutes remaining. Lincoln Memorial knotted the game at 63-63 before Lenoir-Rhyne jumped back out to a four point advantage, 67-63. The Railsplitters cut back to within a point at 67-66 with less than three minutes remaining before the Bears jumped back out to a three point lead 69-66 with 2:56 left in the game. A pair of Lenoir-Rhyne free throws saw the lead jump to 71-66 with 2:30 left in regulation. A free throw from Freeman saw the Railsplitters cut the lead to 71-67. However, the Bears responded with a three pointer on the other end to maintain a 74-67 lead with less than two minutes left in the game. Lincoln Memorial responded with a three point basket from Thomas Allard to cut the lead back to within four points, 74-70.

Lenoir-Rhyne came up with a steal and a bucket on the other end to jump back out to a six point lead, 76-70. However, a three point basket from Enis saw the lead cut back ti within one possession, 76-73 with :45-seconds remaining in the game. With one-of-two free throws on the other end, the Bears' lead stayed at two possessions, 77-73. A pair of free throws from Allard cut the lead back to within two points, 77-75 with less than 30-seconds remaining in regulation. After regaining possession offensively, Enis attacked the rim and was granted a pair of free throws. After connecting on the pair, the score sat tied at 77-77 with 23-seconds left. Lenoir-Rhyne scored the game-winning basket with 3.2 seconds remaining to take a 79-77 victory.

Wes Enis led all scorers with 33 points and seven rebounds. He was followed by Elyjah Freeman with 16 points and seven rebounds. Thomas Allard added eight points, EJ Smith chipped in seven points, Osmar Garcia-Araujo added six points, Jordan Walters tallied five points, and Mahmoud Bangura "Mo" added two points to round out scoring for Lincoln Memorial.

With the loss, Lincoln Memorial moved to 9-2 overall with a 7-1 mark in conference play.