East Tennessee tussle set for South Carolina in SAC quarters
March 3, 2026

East Tennessee tussle set for South Carolina in SAC quarters

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – One of small college basketball’s storied rivalries will move outside of state lines when fifth-seeded Carson-Newman (18-10) and fourth-seeded Lincoln Memorial (18-10) meet in the South Atlantic Conference Men’s Basketball Championship Quarterfinals.

 

C-N Game Notes

VIDEO: On Press Row

VIDEO: Jack Browder POTY

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – One of small college basketball's storied rivalries will move outside of state lines when fifth-seeded Carson-Newman (18-10) and fourth-seeded Lincoln Memorial (18-10) meet in the South Atlantic Conference Men's Basketball Championship Quarterfinals.

The 226th all-time meeting between the old East Tennessee foes will take place Thursday at 5 p.m. at the Rock Hill Sports and Events Center. 

It marks a fourth consecutive year the two have met in the SAC tournament. 

This will be the eighth time that Carson-Newman and Lincoln Memorial play in the SAC tournament.  The Railsplitters are 5-2 against C-N in tournament action.  Carson-Newman handed LMU a 63-48 loss in the 2015 SAC title game and eliminated LMU in the 2022 semifinals.  LMU has bounced C-N from the tournament in the last two seasons, handing the Eagles a semifinal exit both years. 

Carson-Newman enters the South Atlantic Conference tournament as a five seed for the third time since 2005. The Eagles were last a five-seed last year and beat UVA Wise in the quarterfinals 104-95. C-N would bow out in the semifinals to Lincoln Memorial in an instant classic 81-78.  Prior to that, C-N was a five seed in 2021-22 and beat Wingate and Lincoln Memorial before falling to Queens in the SAC title game. The five seed is one of C-N's more productive seeds. The Eagles have been a five five times, winning a title in 1994 and getting to the title game in 2022. Carson-Newman's seven wins as a five are the most out of all the seeds that C-N has been.

Carson-Newman has won its quarterfinal game in four straight tournament appearances. C-N last bowed out in the quarters in 2019 as an eight seed to top-seeded Queens. The Eagles are 8-5 in the quarterfinal round of the tournament under head coach Chuck Benson.

This is just the second time that Carson-Newman and Lincoln Memorial have met in the SAC quarterfinals.  The Eagles fell in Harrogate in the 2011 quarters 74-57.  The Eagles were the eight seed that year in Chuck Benson's first year as head coach, and LMU was the top seed on its way to a SAC tournament title. 

Carson-Newman is searching for back-to-back wins against LMU in the same season for the first time since 2011-12.  The Eagles swept the regular season meetings that year with LMU.  Carson-Newman did beat LMU twice during the 2014-15 season, but two 15-point wins were sandwiched around a 30-point loss in Holt Fieldhouse. 

Carson-Newman is questing for its fifth SAC tournament title.  The Eagles last hoisted the crown in 2021. 

LMU is looking for first championship since 2020 and its sixth overall.  The Railsplitters have lost in the title game the last two years, and in the semifinals in 2023 and 2022.  LMU hasn't suffered a quarterfinal defeat since Charlie Hovasse beat the buzzer for Wingate in 2019 to eliminate the Railsplitters in the quarterfinal round in Harrogate. 

For the fourth time in school history, the South Atlantic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is garbed in Orange and Blue.

 Senior forward Jack Browder capped a glorious regular season with the league's top men's basketball honor.  Browder joins Charles Clark (2016-17), Antoine Davis (2012-13) and Kyle Gribble (2002-03) as Eagles to earn the league's player of the year accolade.  He is the third coached by head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson.

In addition to Browder's Player of the Year honor, he also earns all-league honors for the third time in his career and his second on the first team.

Browder is also on the watch list for Small College Basketball's Bevo Francis Award, given to the top player in all Small College Basketball, as well as the Trevor Hudgins Award, which goes to the best four-year player in Small College Basketball.

Jack Browder enters the SAC tournament on 2,068 career points.  He is fourth all-time in both Carson-Newman and SAC scoring history.  Browder is fifth among active NCAA Division II players in career scoring and 15th among all players in all divisions. 

With 888 career rebounds, Browder is fourth among active Division II players in career rebounds.  Browder, plus Hall of Famers Mike Ogan and Tommy Everette are the only three members of the 1,500/700 club in Carson-Newman history.  Browder is the only player in the NCAA era to do that.

Browder is one of three active players in college basketball with 2,000 career points and 800 career rebounds.  Carl Cleveland at Young Harris and Gonzaga's Graham Ike are the only others in the NCAA.  Browder's 888 rebounds are the fifth-most in school history and seventh in SAC history.  He needs one more rebound to equal Wingate's Bryan Grier (2003-08) for sixth on the league's all-time rebounding list with 889. 

With 39 career double-doubles, Browder already has career mark for Carson-Newman for all-time double-doubles (at least in the NCAA era where we have game-by-game stats).  He has the most double-doubles among active NCAA Division II players. He has the eighth-most double-doubles amongst players in all divisions. Browder's 13 double-doubles this year lead the SAC and are fourth nationally.

Browder is the only player in NCAA Division II to lead his league in scoring and rebounding. Browder is also the only player in the country in the top 20 in both scoring and rebounding.  Browder is third in scoring at 24.8 points per game and 17th in rebounding at 9.6 boards per game. 

Browder has 695 points this season. The most by an Eagle in a single-season in the NCAA-era and the seventh-highest scoring total in league history.  Browder is averaging 24.8 points per game this season.  If he maintains that average, he will join Mike Ogan as the only player in school history to average more than 24 a game.  Ogan did it twice, including a school-record 26.3 ppg as a senior in 1973-74. 

He has set the SAC single-game record for free throws made in a game without missing.  Connecting on all 21 of his foul shots on senior day in an overtime loss to Lenoir-Rhyne. 

With 230 made free throws this season, he is second all-time in SAC history for free throws made in a season. 

Browder has been recognized as the league's player of the week three times this season.

He has four, 30-point games this year, including a 46-piece against Mars Hill.  He produced the fourth-highest single-game scoring effort in school history and the ninth-best night in South Atlantic Conference history. The 40-point point night is the eighth all-time in C-N history. He scored 20 points in the first half before dropping 26 after halftime. Going 17-of-17 at the free throw line broke Tommy Everette's 59-year old school record for the most free throw attempts in a game without missing.

Browder has scored 105 points in his last three games, the second-highest three-game stretch in school history behind the 110 points Charles Clark scored around his then-school record 54-point game his junior year against Coker in 2016-17.

Tipoff between C-N and LMU is set for Thursday at 5 p.m.  Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 4:45 p.m. with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Talk 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. A live video feed of the broadcast crew at work on press row can be found on YouTube.  

On Press Row Highlights Game Notes Photos Audio Live stats Recap Box Score Box Score (PDF)