GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — Wes Ennis scored 22 points to go along with nine rebounds to lead 11th-ranked Lincoln Memorial University to a 68-55 South Atlantic Conference win over Tusculum University Wednesday night at Pioneer Arena.
The Railsplitters (12-2, 10-1 SAC) sweep the season series over the Pioneers (3-13, 3-9 SAC) to remain atop the league standings.
LMU played a stifling defense holding Tusculum to 29.9 percent shooting including 9-of-34 in the second half. The Railsplitters went 22-of-43 from the floor (51%) and shot a blistering 19-of-20 from the free throw line including 16 in a row to close out the game. LMU recorded 17 assists on its 22 field goals.
Tusculum chucked up 24 more field goal tries than LMU, made two less field goals and went only 7-of-14 from the charity stripe. TU posted 17 offensive rebounds, but could only manage a dozen points off those second chances.
LMU’s Elyjah Freeman posted a double-double with 16 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, while Jordan Walters added 13 points and five assists in the victory.
Tusculum freshman Denaj Kimber match a season-high with his 15 points while also leading the team with a season-best six assists. His twin brother, Taj Kimber added 12 points off the bench, while Akeem Odusipe tallied eight points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his seventh game this year with double-figure boards.
Sophomore guard Bryce Jackson was held to a season-low eight points, ending his string of double-digit scoring contests at 12 in a row. He pulled down seven rebounds and tied a career-high with his three blocked shots.
TU’s Malachi Hale added seven points, while freshman guard Jason Britton finished with five points as the Pioneers suffered their eighth consecutive loss.
Lincoln Memorial scored the first seven points of the game thanks to a Walters’ dunk and five straight points from EJ Smith. LMU pushed the lead out to eight at 12-4 before Tusculum went on an 8-2 run to trim the deficit to 14-12 with 10:35 left in the half.
Tusculum later cut the LMU lead down to one at 18-17 thanks to a three-pointer from Britton. But the Railsplitters answered with seven straight capped off by a Thomas Allard layup as LMU led 25-17.
With the visitors up 28-20 with three minutes left in the period, the Pioneers scored eight in a row thanks to back-to-back triples from Taj Kimber to tie the game at 28-28. But Walters would hit a jumper in the paint with four seconds left as LMU took a 30-28 lead into the locker room.
Freeman converted a four-point play to start the half to swell the LMU advantage to 34-28 with 18:57 remaining. With LMU up 36-30, the Pioneers went on a 10-2 run to take its first lead of the game thanks to a dunk and triple from Hale as TU moved ahead 40-38 with 13:19 left on the clock.
LMU responded with six straight points including free throws from Walters and Enis and a jumper from former Pioneer Connor Jordan as the Railsplitters led 44-40 with 11:01 on the scoreboard.
Odusipe made two of four free throws on his next two trips down the floor as TU trailed 44-43. But LMU would go on a key 10-0 run to take a 54-43 lead with 6:22 left in the contest. Freeman contributed four points during the run.
LMU took its largest lead of the contest at 14 (62-48) following an Enis triple with less than four minutes to go. Denaj Kimber scored six straight for the Pioneers including a four-point play as TU found itself down 62-54 with 1:30 remaining.
But Tusculum would miss its final eight field goal attempts over the final 2:34 while LMU went 4-of-4 at the free throw line and converted its only field goal attempt to seal the victory.
The 68 points are a season-low for the Railsplitters and its first win scoring less than 70 points since a 61-54 victory over Georgia College on Nov. 23, 2022 in Harrogate.
Tusculum committed a season-low six turnovers in the contest with two of them being shot clock violations. LMU committed 13 turnovers thanks to eight Tusculum steals including three from Jackson and two each by the Kimber brothers.
The Pioneers return to action on Saturday when they host Coker University for a 4 p.m. contest. The Cobras (11-4, 7-4 SAC) defeated Tusculum 106-83 in last month’s meeting. Coker started the season 9-0 after that victory over the Pioneers, but Coker has lost three in a row to start January and four of its last six outings overall.
