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NEWS RELEASE

The No. 6 Lincoln Memorial men’s basketball team got out to a big early lead and never looked back in its season-opening 108-80 win Saturday over Valdosta

State at the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in Lakeland, Florida.

The Railsplitters set multiple tournament records in the dominating win, including the most field goals (41), rebounds (56) and assists (31) in a single game while tying the record for most points scored. LMU returned to action on Sunday, and dropped an 83-81 decision to No. 24 Alabama Huntsville.

After falling behind Saturday 5-2 in the opening minute at George Jenkins Fieldhouse, the Railsplitters roared back with a 32-7 run spanning less than nine minutes to take a 34-12 lead.

After going into halftime up 52-32, Lincoln Memorial began the second half on a 7-0 scoring run and would lead by at least 20 points the rest of the game.

Senior guard Chase Rankin came one rebound shy of a triple-double with 14 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds, while Martez Brown (16 points, 10 rebounds) and

Jordan Walters (15 points, 12 rebounds) also had double-doubles for the Railsplitters.

Senior forward Jordan Guest led Lincoln Memorial in scoring with 17 points while adding eight rebounds. Also contributing to the balanced offensive attack, where six

players put up double figures points, were Quay Kennedy (15 points) and Me’Kell Burries (13 points).

The Railsplitters shot an efficient 53.2 percent from the field while outrebounding the Blazers 56 to 32.

On Sunday, Alabama-Huntsville (1-1) built a lead as high as 16 in the final minute of the first half. The duo of Chaney Johnson (25 points) and Luke Burnett (21) made difficult shots throughout the game for an efficient Chargers offense.

Lincoln Memorial (1-1) would steadily fight back from the 47-32 halftime score, eventually tying it up at 68-all on the second of back-to-back Me’Kell Burries 3-pointers, but the Chargers went on a 10-2 run from there to take command of the game.

Matthew Sells, who sparked the offense in the first half with five 3-pointers before adding a couple more after halftime, had a shot from the right wing to win the game in the closing seconds, but it bounced off the front iron. Sells led Lincoln Memorial with 21 points on the day.

Burries (15 points) and Jordan Guest (13) jumpstarted the Railsplitter offense early in the second half, as Burries hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first minute while Guest had 10 points in the second period.

Lincoln Memorial wraps up the invitational with a 1-1 record after a 108-80 win over Valdosta State on Saturday.

Up next for the Railsplitters is the South Atlantic Conference/Peach Belt Conference Challenge on Friday and Saturday in Tusculum, against Clayton State and South Carolina-Aiken.