Dec. 6, 2008

Final Stats

JEFFERSON CITY, TENN. – Carson-Newman men’s basketball coach Dale Clayton recorded his 300th career victory, and the Eagles got South Atlantic Conference play started off on the right foot with an 81-72 victory over Lincoln Memorial at Holt Fieldhouse Saturday night.

“I hadn’t really put much thought into it, but it was good that we got it on a night when we were playing a rival and starting conference play,” Clayton said of reaching the milestone.  “I was proud of the way the guys came out and competed.”

Andrew Johnson (Cairo, Ga.) led the Eagles (4-4, 1-0) with 16 points, including 11 in the first half.  Jordan Dixon (Clinton, Tenn.) followed with 12 points and Joey Cameron (Tuskegee, Ala.) with 11.  Darron Maxtion (Huntsville, Ala.) finished with a team-high nine rebounds.

D’Mario Curry paced Lincoln Memorial (4-3, 0-1) with 21 points, while Brandon Armstrong contributed 14.

Carson-Newman was 31-of-67 from the field and forced 22 LMU turnovers.  The Railsplitters held a commanding 47-32 edge in rebounding, but shot just 38.7 percent for the game.

The game was tied on four occasions in the first half before Carson-Newman used a 14-4 run to take a 37-27 lead with 3:12 left before halftime.   Maxtion, Johnson and Zach Hyatte (Dayton, Tenn.) each had four points in the stretch.

Lincoln Memorial managed to trim the margin to 39-35 at intermission, thanks in part to four points by Armstrong in the final 1:55.

Curry started the second half with a trey to pull the Railsplitters within one, but Dixon followed with a lay-up and Jesse McMurray (Weber City, Va.) added a pair of threes to give Carson-Newman a 49-43 lead at the 16:25 mark.

The Eagles led by as many as 11 with 6:03 left in the game, before a three-point play by Curry and back-to-back threes by Armstrong made it  72-68 as the clock ticked under four minutes.

Carlos Sanford later added a trey to pull Lincoln Memorial within three with 2:35 left, but Dixon answered with a three of his own and then sank a pair of free throws on the Eagles’ next possession to help put the game away.

Carson-Newman will travel to Anderson College next Saturday for a 4 p.m. contest.  The Eagles won’t play at home again until January 10 against Mars Hill.