HARROGATE, Tenn. -- Junior shooting guard Tim Pierce (Albany, Ga.) led a group of four players in double figures as the 23rd-ranked Railsplitters (1-0) surged late to shake off the pesky Lees-McRae Bobcats (0-1) 96-72 in the opener of the 2014-15 campaign on Friday night at Tex Turner Arena.
 
Lincoln Memorial had manufactured a 43-38 advantage at the end of the opening half, but a bucket by Darius Malbon, two Kendall Isler free throws and a layup by Sean Deniton paced a 7-0 Bobcat run to open the second half and propelled Lees-McRae into the lead at 44-43. A three-pointer by Luquon Choice (Laurens, S.C.) just seconds after Deniton's basket ended that flurry and pushed the Railsplitters back in front 46-44. 
 
The Railsplitters would not trail for the remainder of the contest, but the score remained tight over the ensuing passage of play as a dunk by Jacquise Moore with 13:48 remaining pulled the Bobcats within two at 55-53. In a flash, though, the Railsplitters burst away from Lees-McRae thanks to a nearly impenetrable defensive effort. Following Moore's dunk, Lincoln Memorial relinquished only three field goals over a stretch that consumed nearly 10 minutes of game clock. That span was illuminated by a nearly five-minute stretch from the 8:15 to the 3:21 mark in which the Bobcats went without a single basket.
 
By the time Lees-McRae ended its drought, the Railsplitters had battered and rammed their way to an 86-68 advantage. Junior forward Curtis McMillion (Fayetteville, N.C.) paced that flurry for LMU as he collected 11 points, while Pierce pitched in nine points. After assuming their first 20-point lead of the contest with a bucket by Pierce with 3:32 remaining in regulation, the Railsplitters would never lead by less than 18 down the stretch.
 
At least for one night, the Railsplitters answered the question of who would make up for the offensive production of last year's senior class and two leading scorers, Vincent Bailey and Chance Jones, as a group of four different players crested the 15-point threshold to lead the charge. Pierce was at the front of that quartet as he matched a career-high with 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting overall and 4-of-7 shooting from three-point range in 24 minutes off the bench. The Albany, Ga. native added six rebounds and five assists in the winning effort. McMillion rolled in 19 points on 5-for-6 shooting in just 21 minutes off of the bench, while Choice poured in five three-pointers on his way to a 17-point effort. Senior Lorenza Ross (Savannah, Ga.) filled out the stat sheet with 16 points, seven assists and five rebounds in 33 minutes of work. The preseason All-SAC second team selection finished 7-for-9 from the field.
 
Behind both Pierce and McMillion, the Railsplitters' bench accounted for a massive 50-23 scoring edge. The Railsplitters outrebounded the undersized Bobcats by a 43-20 margin. As a unit, Lincoln Memorial finished 34-for-60 from the field (56.7 percent), 10-for-18 from the three-point line (55.6 percent) and 18-for-28 from the free throw line (64.3 percent). The Railsplitters accomplished a rare feat by hitting 10 or more three-pointers as that happened just three times in 31 games last season.
 
That the Railsplitters only led by five at the halftime break can be widely attributed to turnovers and poor free throw shooting. Lincoln Memorial committed six turnovers in the first half, illuminated by a shaky start in which they gave possession away three times in the first 1:50. Those six blunders were converted into 10 points by the Bobcats. The Railsplitters shot 51.7 percent from the field in the half, knocking down five of their nine three-point attempts along the way, but they also went just 8-for-17 at the charity stripe.
 
With the win, the Railsplitters improved to 7-0 in season openers since Josh Schertz took over the program prior to the 2008-09 campaign, while they also buoyed their record to 5-0 all-time against Lees-McRae.
 
Jacquise Moore paced the Bobcats with 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting, while Raul Tutton notched 13 points despite finishing 3-for-14 from the field. Kendall Isler and Cameron Redd added nine points apiece in the losing effort.
 
The Bobcats went 25-for-64 from the floor (39.1 percent) and 5-for-16 from beyond the three-point arc (31.3 percent). 
 
The Railsplitters have less than 24 hours of rest before returning to the Tex Turner Arena floor to square off against King in the finale of the SAC vs. Conference Carolinas Challenge. Tip-off between Lincoln Memorial and the Tornado is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.