WISE, Va. -- The sixth-ranked Railsplitters (11-0) hit the century mark for the third straight game to close out the 2014 portion of the schedule with a 107-55 victory over the Virginia-Wise Cavaliers (1-8) in NCAA Division II men's basketball action on Sunday afternoon in the Prior Center.
Five different players notched double-figures, while every player to appear in Sunday's nonconference contest registered at least two points. Nearly everything went right for the Railsplitters offensively, as they posted a season-high 61.2 shooting percentage and a 10-for-18 mark from the three-point arc. The Railsplitters' bench outscored the Cavaliers' second unit 47-18, while LMU controlled the inside to the tune of a 60-16 scoring advantage in the paint.
Sophomore
Luquon Choice (Laurens, S.C.) went 6-for-8 from three-point territory to lead all players with 20 points. He added two rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals to his stat ledger. Junior
Curtis McMillion (Fayetteville, N.C.) scored 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting and grabbed six rebounds in just 19 minutes off the bench.
Emanuel Terry (Birmingham, Ala.) accounted for his second double-double in three games by tallying 13 points and leading all players with 11 rebounds. Terry was a force defensively as he nearly posted a triple-double with seven blocks and three steals. Terry became just the third player in program history to record at least seven blocks in a game, joining Corey Wilson and D'Mario Curry on that brief list.
Lorenza Ross (Savannah, Ga.) and
Dorian Pinson (Columbia, S.C.) chipped in with 10 points apiece. Pinson added seven rebounds to his first career double-digit scoring performance.
The Railsplitters opened the game on a 12-0 run, which was capped by a Choice three-pointer at the 12:59 mark. Dyonta Bizzle-Brown finally put the Cavaliers on the board with a layup at 12:32, but another Choice trey extended LMU's cushion to 17-2 with 10 minutes left in the frame. UVA-Wise would not break into double-digits until a flush by Brian Sydnor at 4:48, but that cut the Railsplitters' lead to just 30-10. LMU churned out another 8-0 flurry, sealed by a Pinson three-pointer at 2:30, to bury the Cavaliers in a 38-10 hole.
Lincoln Memorial took a commanding 41-18 lead into the break, shooting 64 percent in the half while limiting the Cavaliers to a dismal 5-for-25 effort from the field. UVA-Wise accounted for seven of its 18 first-half points at the free-throw line.
It didn't get any easier for the Cavaliers in the second half, as the Railsplitters opened the half on a 10-0 run to bulge out to a 51-18 advantage. Virginia-Wise trimmed LMU's lead to 29 on a Matt Day jumper with 13:56 remaining, but a 9-0 run put the Railsplitters up 69-31 at 11:58. LMU never led by less than 35 for the remainder of the game, while a bucket by Terry pushed the margin to 51 with just seven minutes left. The Railsplitters led by as many as 56 before settling for a 52 point triumph.
UVA-Wise finished shooting just 28.8 percent from the field (17-for-59) and 28 percent from three-point range (7-for-25). Philip Owens II led the Cavaliers with 14 points and five assists, while Jordan Smith churned out 12 points and three rebounds. Matt Day pitched in seven points and a team-leading six rebounds.
After briefly breaking for the holidays, the Railsplitters resume South Atlantic Conference play on Saturday, January 3, traveling to Hickory, N.C. for a 4 p.m. tip-off against the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears.