Railsplitters Give Eagles Men Their First Loss
December 21, 2002

The Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters didn’t hand the Ashland University Eagles a lump of coal for Christmas. But LMU did put a black mark behind the Eagles’ name.

Saturday (Dec. 21) in Harrogate, TN, the Railsplitters gave the Eagles their first loss of the season, 70-56. The setback leaves the Eagles at 8-1. LMU is 6-4.

Ashland is ranked 17th in the country and Saturday’s win gives the Railsplitters two wins over nationally-ranked foes. Earlier this season, LMU knocked off Carson-Newman. Both of those wins came at LMU’s Turner Arena where the Railsplitters are 4-0 this year.

Ashland trailed, 36-34 at halftime Saturday. Getting that close was a major accomplishment – the Eagles were down by nine points, 17-8 with 13:29 left in the first half. Cutting the LMU lead to two points at the break seemed to indicate that the Eagles were about to turn the game’s momentum in their favor.

That proved to be false hope. AU made just four field goals in the second half. Over the final 20 minutes, AU shot 15.4 percent (4-26) from the floor. LMU’s biggest lead was a 20-point bulge at 66-46 with 4:36 remaining in the game.

Ashland shot 28.3 percent (15-53) for the game. Making matters worse, the Eagles were outrebounded, 39-29. That spred lead to numerous second chances for the Railsplitters. LMU also took advantage of AU inside, holding a 40-12 edge in points in the paint. This marked the first time LMU defeated the Eagles. Ashland leads the all-time series, 6-1.

Senior point guard Angelo Edwards was the only AU player to reach double digits in scoring. He had 21 points, hitting six of 11 shots. Senior guard Isaac Kincaid, who came into the contest averaging 23.0 ppg., was held to a season-low four points. Sophomore center Mike Campbell, third on the team in scoring at 11.3 ppg., was limited to four points, all on free throws. Campbell did retrieve a team-high eight rebounds. Close behind was senior guard-forward Tom Church with seven boards.

Forward Dwight Windom had 16 points and 17 rebounds to lead LMU. Center Isaac Hubbard had 15 points and four rebounds. Lincoln Memorial shot 53.6 percent (30-56) from the floor. LMU turned the ball over 18 times and shot 17 fewer free throws than the Eagles (AU was 20-25, LMU 6-8).

AU returns to the court Dec. 28-29 in the Ashland AmeriHost Classic. LMU is one of three visitors in town for that tourney.