C-N suffers last-second SAC quarterfinal heartbreaker to LMU
March 5, 2026

C-N suffers last-second SAC quarterfinal heartbreaker to LMU

ROCK HILL, S.C. -  Carson-Newman (18-11) looked to have things all sewn up in the SAC quarterfinals Thursday evening at the Rock Hill Sports & Events Center. 

VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview

VIDEO: Highlights

VIDEO: Jack Browder Interview

ROCK HILL, S.C. -  Carson-Newman (18-11) looked to have things all sewn up in the SAC quarterfinals Thursday evening at the Rock Hill Sports & Events Center. 

A quartet of Jack Browder (Kingsport, Tenn.) free throws inside of 30 seconds had put the Eagles ahead of Lincoln Memorial (19-10) by three with 11 seconds left. C-N pulled the strategic move to foul when up by three to avoid a game-tying three. This time, things didn't pan out like they had in previous games where head coach Chuck Benson employed that strategy. 

With 4.7 seconds left, C-N fouled EJ Smith. The sophomore made the first and intentionally missed the second. A beeline that caromed off the backboard, the front iron and made its way back into Smith's hands. He flicked up a 17-foot shot that went in as Rylan Houck stumbled into his legs, grasping for a rebound that wasn't to be.  With an and-one, Smith calmly knocked down the game winning free throw with 1.8 seconds left – a reverse four-point play that gave LMU a 68-67 win, knocked C-N out of the SAC tournament, and more than likely ended Carson-Newman's hopes for an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament. 

"Credit to LMU, that was high-risk, high-reward," head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "I've been a coach for 700-some games, and I've not lost one like that. We're in the national tournament if we win this. It's really unfortunate that we have to take our medicine. I hate that it ends like this. I want to see more from this team and Jack Browder especially with how we have performed the second half of the year. 

"I don't know why we have to go through this situation.  But hopefully we as a staff and our underclassmen can take lessons from this.  When we lose, we do the coach speak thing where we say what we can learn from these losses.  But the truth of the matter is this sucks. This sucks really bad. It sucks for our staff and our players to lose like that. There's not a lot to be said.  You look at it and think, 'why?'"

The loss obfuscates a whale of a comeback for C-N.  LMU jumped out to a 13-point lead early in the second half thanks to an 8-0 run spanning the halftime break.  C-N responded with a 9-0 run with a Braden Ilic (Morristown, Tenn.) three and back-to-back Browder and-ones to get within a point with 12:23 to go.  A 13-4 run for C-N in the final three minutes seemingly had the Eagles on the front foot for good, before Smith's miracle proved that to be false. 

Carson-Newman shot 44.9 percent from the field, but 56.5 percent after halftime.  The Eagles limited the Railsplitters to 42.6 percent shooting. Ultimately, the Railsplitters made one more field goal (23-22) and collected one more rebound (32-31), with those ones being the game-altering ones with 1.8 seconds to go. 

"I thought we were a little shaky the first half," head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "We had a hard time finding confidence on the offensive side. We had an intense halftime chat about what adjustments we needed to make, doubling down on doing some things we said we were going to do. Credit to our guys for responding.  Our second half was good enough for us to win. We stayed resilient and committed.  Ultimately, it wasn't enough. These last two games the way they have ended have been nightmarish." 

Browder was transcendent in defeat. He scored 30 for a third straight game. He was 9-of-18 from the field, 1-of-5 from three and 11-of-14 at the charity stripe. 

Browder, barring a miracle from the NCAA RAC, concludes the season with 725 points, averaging 25.0 points per game.  It's the second-highest scoring average for a season in both SAC and Carson-Newman history.

He wraps up his career with 2,098 points and 897 rebounds. 

"From a basketball and academic standpoint, Jack is one of one," Benson said. "He could have left us and he stayed. I know what he gave up to stay at Carson-Newman.  All these things together make him one of one.  There's no one like him, and if we're ever fortunate to have another like him, good for us. He's been truly a joy on every conceivable level. He has set the bar high for other guys who come in after him." 

Browder was joined in double-figures by Ilic, who finished with 15, and Matt Bilbrey (Crossville, Tenn.), who had 11. 

Smith led LMU with 21 points, matching a career high.  Jayden Spearman and Walter Campbell each had 11 for the Railsplitters, while Ashton Pennamon finished with 10. 

Carson-Newman will face an agonizing 72-hour wait for the NCAA selection show Sunday night and the reveal of the NCAA tournament bracket.  The Eagles entered the week a spot ahead of LMU in the region rankings. The result likely flips the two and would have C-N on the outside looking in (although the Railsplitters do have three losses to teams with losing records, while C-N has none).

LMU advances to the SAC semifinals and takes on Anderson at 5 p.m. Friday.   

LMU has eliminated C-N from the SAC tournament each of the last three years. This was Carson-Newman's first SAC quarterfinal loss this decade, stopping a string of four straight wins in the round. 

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