Jefferson City, TN - Four days after falling on the road to then-ranked #21 Lenoir-Rhyne at the buzzer, the 14th-ranked Lincoln Memorial men's basketball team was back on the road Saturday night for a match up with rival Carson-Newman. How would the Railsplitters respond to the loss? With a win in dominating fashion. Freshman Elyjah Freeman set a new career high in points scored, tallying a double-double to lead Lincoln Memorial with 36 points and 11 rebounds. The Railsplitters clipped the Eagles 89-80 to improve to 10-2 on the season, including an 8-1 mark in conference play.

Carson-Newman opened the game with a three pointer before Lincoln Memorial responded with a 9-0 run to triple the Eagles early on, 9-3. As the Railsplitters lead grew to 14-7, all five starters had already contributed to the scoring column. The Lincoln Memorial lead grew to 10 points at 19-9 before Carson-Newman cut back to within a single point at 19-18 on the heels of an 8-0 run. The Railsplitters' lead grew to 35-25 before the Eagles cut back to within single digits, 40-32. Lincoln Memorial closed the first half outscoring Carson-Newman 7-2 to take a 47-34 lead into the half.

The Railsplitters didn't let up to start the second half, jumping out to a quick 56-42 lead. The Eagles once again cut back to within single digits at 58-50 with 13:56 remaining in the game before a 20-9 run from Lincoln Memorial gave the Railsplitters a comfortable 78-59 lead with seven minutes remaining in the game. Carson-Newman stitched together a fervent comeback effort as the clock began to creep lower, outscoring Lincoln Memorial 21-11 in the final seven minutes, but the Railsplitters held on to secure their 10th victory of the season, 89-80.

Elyjah Freeman led all scorers with 36 points and tallied a double-double with 11 rebounds. He was followed by Connor Jordan with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor. Thomas Allard added 12 points, connecting on 4-of-6 three point attempts. Wes Enis tallied 10 points, five rebounds, and four assists. Jordan Walters was exceptionally close to a triple-double with nine points, eight rebounds, and eight assists. EJ Smith added six points and two rebounds, going a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor. Mahmoud Bangura "Mo" added three points to round out scoring for the Railsplitters, connecting on his only shot of the game from long range.

Lincoln Memorial played extremely efficient on offense, tallying 20 assists on 33 made baskets. The Railsplitters shot the ball exceptionally well throughout the game, connecting on 53% of attempts from the floor, including a blistering 52% from long range, connecting on 11-of-21 attempts from deep. Lincoln Memorial won the rebounding battle, including nine offensive rebounds that led to 13 second chance points.