HARROGATE, Tenn. -- Gerel Simmons (Accokeek, Md.) recorded a season-high 22 points to help the 10th-ranked Railsplitters (7-0) ward off the Ohio Midwestern Rams (0-7) 78-64 on Wednesday evening at Tex Turner Arena. In the process, Lincoln Memorial extended its streak of consecutive nonconference victories in Harrogate to 32, a flurry that dates back to the 2008-09 season.
 
Lincoln Memorial led by just four points at the end of the first half, but the Railsplitters outscored the Rams 44-34 in the second stanza to put some distance between themselves and the Rams. Wednesday's meeting was the first time in five head-to-head encounters with Ohio Midwestern in which the game has been decided by fewer than 33 points. The Railsplitters entered the match-up having topped the Rams by an average of 50 points in the previous four contests.
 
The Railsplitters finished shooting 50 percent (31-for-62), but that effort was severely hampered by a 4-for-23 mark from beyond the three-point range. LMU's 23 three-point attempts were a season high, while their four three-pointers made was a season low.
 
Gerel Simmons led the Railsplitters with 22 points on 7-of-13 shooting in 30 minutes off the bench. Simmons accounted for all of the Railsplitters' three-point output as he knocked down four trifectas on 10 attempts. Lorenza Ross (Savannah, Ga.) collected 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting while adding five rebounds and three assists. Curtis McMillion (Fayetteville, N.C.) produced 16 points and a team-leading eight rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench. Behind Simmons and McMillion, the Railsplitters' second unit outproduced the Rams' bench 49-7.
 
The Railsplitters outrebounded Ohio Midwestern 47-25 and destroyed the visiting unit in the paint 52-16.
 
Ohio Midwestern - who shot 39.3 percent from the field with a 7-for-19 clip from deep - was paced by Ahmad Dauda. Dauda poured in a game-high 24 points with six rebounds in 36 minutes of action. More than a third of his points were earned at the charity stripe, where he went 9-of-11. Michael Thompson added 11 points and five boards in 33 minutes, while Patrick White pitched in nine points.
 
The Railsplitters are off to a 7-0 start for just the third time since Josh Schertz took over the program prior to the 2008-09 campaign. It's the first such start for Lincoln Memorial since opening the 2011-12 season with 15 consecutive wins.
 
Lincoln Memorial resumes South Atlantic Conference play on Saturday, December 6, welcoming the Coker Cobras to Tex Turner Arena for a 4 p.m. tip-off.