HARROGATE, Tenn. --- Tusculum University nearly erased a 15-point deficit in the final three minutes but dropped a 95-89 decision to Lincoln Memorial University in South Atlantic Conference men's basketball action Thursday evening at Tex Turner Arena.
Trenton Gibson scored 25 points and Inady Legiste scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half for the Pioneers (14-7, 14-5 SAC), who were playing their first game in 12 days due to COVID-19 protocols. Tusculum trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half and were down 15 with 2:59 left before pulling within three in the final 15 seconds.
Chase Rankin led the Railsplitters with 25 points and Me'Kell Burries was a perfect 8-for-8 from the field and 3-for-3 from the line for 22 points for Lincoln Memorial (23-3, 19-3 SAC), which won its 43rd consecutive home game and moved back into a tie with Queens for first place in the SAC with two games left in the regular season.
The Railsplitters, ranked eighth in the NABC Division II poll and 11th in the D2SIDA national poll, shot 53.4 percent (31-for-58) from the field in the game and went 25-for-30 from the foul line, including 23-for-27 in the second half. Lincoln Memorial turned the ball over 17 times in the game while forcing the Pioneers into a season-low five turnovers.
Gibson, who was playing his 100th career game for the Pioneers, was just 5-for-17 from the field but hit 3-for-6 from three-point range. He was 12-for-16 from the foul line to set the Tusculum career record for made free throws. Gibson has made 462 free throws in his Pioneer career, breaking the old mark of 458 set by Darius Carter from 2011-16. Gibson also had six rebounds and four assists before fouling out for the first time in his career in the final seconds. Gibson also moved into eighth place on the TU career scoring list with 1,545 points, passing George Coates who had 1,533 points from 1963-67.
Tusculum placed five players in double figures, with Legiste shooting 7-for-10 from the field and 6-for-7 from the foul line while also grabbing a team-high eight rebounds. William Vedder added 12 points, Justin Mitchell chipped in with 11 and Joshua Scott came off the bench to collect a season-best 10 points. Mitchell and Vedder scored all of their points in the second half as the Pioneers put up 57 points after halftime.
Both Gibson and Mitchell equaled their career highs with four steals as the Pioneers came up with a season-high 14 thefts in the game. Tusculum was outrebounded 44-40 by Lincoln Memorial, but the Pioneers had 16 offensive rebounds which they converted into 12 second-chance points. Tusculum's bench outscored the Lincoln Memorial reserves by a 47-31 margin, as both Legiste and Burries had 22 points off the bench for their respective teams.
Four players hit double figures for the Railsplitters, with Jordan Guest contributing 17 points and four rebounds and Alex Dahling adding 17 points, five rebounds and a game-high five assists. Rankin was 7-for-11 from the field and 9-for-10 at the foul line and led the Railsplitters with eight rebounds.
Guest scored the first five points of the game on a layup and three-pointers, but back-to-back baskets from Brandon Mitchell cut the LMU lead to 5-4 after two minutes. Rankin would score six straight for the Railsplitters to offset five in a row from Gibson, the last two on foul shots to bring the Pioneers within 11-9 with 15:40 to go. Gibson would score 10 consecutive points for the Pioneers, draining a three to cut the LMU lead to 19-14 with 13:55 to go in the half.
Tusculum trailed 21-18 following a layup by Scott with 12:10 left, but the Railsplitters scored 10 in a row to go up 31-18 on a Burries three-pointer with 8:12 remaining. James West snapped the run with a three-pointer with 7:29 to go for the Pioneers, but six more from LMU made it a 16-3 run and a 37-21 LMU lead on a three-point play from Dahling with 5:13 to go in the half.
Gibson continued to carry the Tusculum offense, scoring five straight for the Pioneers to trim the Railsplitters' lead to 41-28 with 1:10 left. Two layups from Legiste in the final minute were offset by buckets from Guest and Dahling as LMU carried a 13-point lead to intermission.
The Railsplitters led 45-32 at the half on 55.9 percent shooting (19-for-34) from the field. Guest and Rankin shared the team high with 12 points while Burries added 10 points on 4-for-4 shooting, including two three-pointers. Tusculum shot 29.3 percent (12-for-41) from the floor in the half, with Gibson leading the way with 15 points on 4-for-11 from the field.
Tusculum scored the first seven points of the second half on a layup by Brandon Mitchell, a three-pointer from Gibson and two free throws by Justin Mitchell to trim the Railsplitters' lead to 45-39 with 17:16 remaining. LMU came up empty on its first four possessions of the half until Burries hit two foul shots with 17:01 to play. Legiste scored five in a row for the Pioneers on a three-pointer and a jumper, but the Railsplitters responded with seven in a row to go up 61-47 on two foul shots by Jordan Walters with 13:03 left.
Justin Mitchell then took over on offense for the Pioneers, scoring eight points in a four-minute span including a steal and dunk to pull the Pioneers within 68-61 with 8:27 to go. However, Burries canned another three-pointer with 7:34 remaining for a 73-61 LMU lead. Tusculum again crept within seven at 76-69 on two free throws by Gibson with 5:40 left, but a layup by Dahling and a breakaway dunk by Burries put LMU back up 81-69 with 5:10 to go.
Vedder hit a pair of jumpers to keep the Pioneers within range at 83-73 with 4:06 left, but a three-point play from Walters on LMU's next possession and a layup from Dahling put the Railsplitters back up 88-73 with 2:59 left. Tusculum went 2 1/2 minutes without a field goal, but hit 5-for-6 from the foul line over that span ahead of a three-pointer from Scott with 1:34 left which cut the LMU lead to 90-81.
The Pioneers took advantage of a pair of Railsplitter turnovers and cashed in three free throws from Gibson and one by Justin Mitchell to pull within 90-85 with 38.9 seconds left. Rankin sank two free throws with 33.9 to play to put LMU up 92-85, but Legiste drilled a three with 23 seconds to go to make it a 92-88 game. Another turnover from the Railsplitters led to a free throw from Gibson which pulled the Pioneers within 92-89 with 15 seconds left, but Matthew Sells went 2-for-2 at the line with 14 seconds left and Martez Brown added a foul shot with three seconds to go to set the final.
Tusculum shot 38.0 percent (30-for-79) from the field but went 21-for-29 at the foul line, tying their season high for free throw attempts and coming up one shy of their season best of 22 made free throws against Limestone on Nov. 23. Tusculum shot 8-for-27 from three-point range and Lincoln Memorial was 8-for-24 from beyond the arc in the game.
The Pioneers, who remain in third place in the SAC despite Thursday's loss, will play the second of six games in 10 days to end the regular season on Saturday when Coker visits Pioneer Arena for a 4 p.m. tipoff. The Cobras (4-20, 4-17 SAC) have lost eight in a row and dropped a 74-57 decision to the Pioneers in their first meeting of the season on Jan. 15.
