Railsplitters sweep Emory & Henry

Published 2:25 pm Friday, February 10, 2023

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The Lincoln Memorial men’s basketball team led 54-38 at halftime before cruising to a 95-81 win over Emory & Henry on Wednesday night at Tex Turner Arena to sweep the regular season series with the Wasps.

The No. 8 Railsplitters (23-2, 13-1 South Atlantic Conference) handled Emory & Henry (14-9, 6-8 SAC) thanks to a pair of standout performances including a career-high 24 points by Luke Bartemes on 9-14 shooting (6-11 on 3-pointers) and a 10-point, 10-rebound, 11-assist triple-double from Chase Rankin.

Lincoln Memorial trailed 21-16 at the 13:33 mark of the first half after a hot start for both offenses, but the hosts ended the period on a 12-1 run to take the 16-point lead into the break. Emory & Henry made it a game by coming back to within five points at 58-53 and 61-56 midway through the second stanza, but the Railsplitters went on a deciding 16-2 rally to put the Wasps away.

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Bartemes dropped 17 points on 5 of 8 3-point shooting in the first half to provide a spark off the bench for Lincoln Memorial. The Railsplitters had three other players in double figures for the game: Martez Brown (20 points, five rebounds), Me’Kell Burries (18 points and 5-7 3-pointers) and Quay Kennedy (11 points, eight rebounds, five assists).

The hosts shot 47.1 percent (32-68) from the field including 41.9 percent (13-31) from distance and 75 percent (18-24) at the free throw line and outrebounded Emory & Henry 43-34 in the battle of the boards.

Lincoln Memorial will stay at home and Coker at 4 p.m. on Saturday in another SAC showdown.

LMU women beat E&H

Five LMU players scored in double figures as the Lady Railsplitters beat Emory & Henry 80-64 on Wednesday.

Alexis Schulz scored 17 points and had eight rebounds for LMU (14-9, 7-7 SAC). Saquita Joyner added 16 points, Jordan Maney added 11 points, Geovana Rios finished with 11 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds, Alexa Smiddy contributed 11 points and Lauren Flowers chipped in 10 for the Lady Railsplitters.

Breanna Yarber had 21 points and seven rebounds for Emory & Henry (7-15, 4-10 SAC)