Harrogate, TN -- Three days after cruising to victory in its home debut, the Lincoln Memorial University men's basketball team took to the road Saturday for a non-conference showdown, against the Cedarville (OH) Yellowjackets, marking the first meeting between the two programs. The Railsplitters entered the contest bolstering a 2-1 record. The Yellowjackets entered the contest sitting at 1-2 on the season.

Quick buckets from Ahmad Jarrard and EJ Smith saw Lincoln Memorial open the game with a quick 6-0 lead. Cedarville responded with a 6-0 run of its own to knot the game in the early going. The Railsplitters turned defense into offense, turning a pair of steals into a pair of buckets to regain the advantage, 10-6. The Yellowjackets found their second-best rebounder in foul trouble when Yassin Hussein connected on a fall away jumper through contact, earning a trip to the charity stripe. Although he missed the free throw attempt, Jayden Spearman connected on his first three pointer of the game on the ensuing possession to extend the Lincoln Memorial lead to 15-8.

Following a dunk from Spearman, Cedarville connected on a long-range attempt to cut the score to 17-11. With 13:00 left in the first half. Shortly after the Yellowjackets cut to within three points, 17-14, Drew Lewis netted his first bucket of the game on a 15-foot turnaround jumper to give Lincoln Memorial a 19-14 advantage at the under-12 media timeout. The home crowd allowed Cedarville to seize the momentum, rushing out to a 12-2 run over a three-minute span to take its first lead of the game, increasing the score to 26-21. Things continued to trend in favor of the Yellowjackets as the score ballooned to 31-23 with five and a half minutes remaining in the first half. Cedarville began to heat up from beyond the arc, extending the lead to 40-27 with less than two minutes remaining in the first half. Although the Yellowjackets outscored the Railsplitters 26-6 over the span of nine minutes, Cedarville still only held a narrow 11-point lead at the half, 40-29.

It was the red-hot shooting from the Yellowjackets from long-range that allowed them to maintain the edge at the half, connecting on 8-of-17 attempts from deep. Lincoln Memorial led the majority of the first half, out rebounded Cedarville, and dominated the paint 22-10. However, the Yellowjackets forced the Railsplitters into 11 turnovers, which turned into 18 points.

Lincoln Memorial attacked the tin straight out of the halftime intermission. Hussein and Mims tallied a pair of layups, but the Yellowjackets remained hot from beyond the arc, connecting on their first two attempts of the second half. Mims added a three pointer of his own to cut the lead to single digits before Cedarville netted its second three to extend the lead back to 10 points, 46-36. A free throw from Hussein brought the score back down to single digits, 46-37. The Yellowjackets continued to blister the nets, jumping out to a 53-39 lead before a pair of buckets from Lewis and Hussein cut it back to single digits, 53-44 with 15 minutes left in the game. Cedarville couldn't seem to miss in the first six minutes of the second half, connecting on 84% of their attempts from long range, rushing out to a 59-45 lead. Lincoln Memorial cut the score to 11 points with contributions from Aluma, James, and Campbell, 67-56 with 8:17 remaining in the game. Two minutes later, an alley-oop finish from James cut the lead back to single digits, 71-62. The game remained in favor of Cedarville, 77-68 at the final media timeout with 3:18 left in the game. However, Lincoln Memorial's full court press began to cause issues for the Cedarville offense, allowing the Railsplitters to cut back to within four points, 79-75 as time crept below two minutes.

A three-pointer from Spearman cut the lead to one point, 79-78, but an answer from Cedarville extended the lead back to three points, 81-78 with less than a minute left in the game. A pair of free throws from Hussein cut the score to 81-80 with less than 30-seconds remaining. Lincoln Memorial fouled to stop the clock, sending the Yellowjackets to the line, connecting on the pair to take an 83-80 lead. Smith connected on a quick layup to cut the lead to 83-82 with five seconds remaining. Another pair of free throws saw Cedarville secure victory, 85-82.

With the loss, Lincoln Memorial moved to 2-2 on the season and will be back in action on Black Friday at home against 19th-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne.