HARROGATE, Tenn. -- On a night when his starting unit didn't play up to snuff, Coach Josh Schertz dove into his bench early and often in the search for energy and production.
 
And the second unit delivered, outscoring Bluefield's (8-6) bench 40-14 to lead the 16th-ranked Railsplitters (7-1) to a 101-77 win over the Rams in nonconference men's hoops action on Wednesday night at Tex Turner Arena. With the win, Lincoln Memorial won its seventh straight game and improved to 7-1 overall.
 
"The bench effort was really good," Schertz said. "We had to go to that early in the second half and those guys played with energy."
 
Paul Woodson (Cincinnati, Ohio) led the Railsplitters' bench platoon with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, falling one point short of his career high while also grabbing eight rebounds. Gerel Simmons (Accokeek, Md.) paced the Railsplitters with 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting, while Jalen Steele (Knoxville, Tenn.) canned three triples en route to scoring 15 points. Curtis McMillion (Fayetteville, N.C.) had 11 points and Dorian Pinson (Greenville, S.C.) finished a rebound shy of a double-double with 10 points and nine boards.
 
The Railsplitters shot 48.6 percent (34-for-70) from the field, 47.8 percent (11-for-23) from three-point range and 75.9 percent (22-for-29) from the charity stripe and turned the ball over just seven times.
 
Lincoln Memorial led for more than 92 percent of the game and never trailed over the last 34 and half minutes, but it was hardly a runaway, as the Rams used the three-ball and second-chance opportunities to keep the game close throughout much of the first half.
 
After falling behind 8-7 at the 15:08 mark of the first half, Steele knocked down back-to-back three-pointers to fuel a 15-6 run that put the Railsplitters in front 22-14 at 11:44. But an 8-0 Bluefield run evened the score at 22-22 by the 10-minute juncture.
 
Two three-pointers by Darius Scott kept the Rams within striking distance and made it a 33-30 game with 7:38 left in the first, but the Railsplitters closed the half on a 23-9 run, going 7-for-12 from the field and 2-of-4 from beyond the three-point arc, to carry a 54-37 advantage into the break.
 
An old-fashioned three-point play by Steele gave the Railsplitters a 61-41 lead less than two minutes into the second frame, but the Rams steadily chipped away and closed the gap to 66-52 on a Zeke Williams free throw with 14:39 left.
 
From there, the Railsplitters effectively seized control, ripping off a 21-9 spurt over the next eight minutes to extend the lead to 87-61. Woodson scored nine of his 15 points over that span, during which Lincoln Memorial went 8-of-13 from the floor and forced three Bluefield turnovers.
 
The lead would later balloon to 30 (101-71) on a Javier Gonzalez (Fayetteville, N.C.) triple with 1:23 left on the game clock. Teyon Henry hit back-to-back three-pointers before time expired, though, to trim the final deficit to 101-77.
 
The fan favorite Gonzalez finished with a career-high eight points on 2-for-3 shooting from long range in just five minutes off of the bench.
 
Henry led the Rams with 22 points, while Zeke Williams had 21 points on 19 shot attempts. Alonzo Howard was the only other Bluefield player in double figures, as he scored 13 points on 6-for-11 shooting.
 
The Rams finished shooting 40.9 percent (27-for-66) from the field, 41.7 percent (10-for-24) from three and 59.1 percent (13-for-22) from the free-throw line.
 
Quick Hits
The Railsplitters had four different players come off the bench and contribute at least five points. Bluefield had only one such player...Lincoln Memorial produced a 49-35 advantage on the backboards with 19 offensive rebounds that resulted in 25 second-chance points. Woodson led all players with five offensive boards while McMillion had four. Bluefield had 13 offensive rebounds and 12 second-chance points...The Railsplitters trailed for only 52 seconds total in the contest...Wednesday was the first meeting between LMU and Bluefield since 1994 as the Railsplitters improved to 4-1 in the all-time series, which dates back to 1927...LMU won its 37th straight regular season nonconference home game, a streak that dates back to December of 2008
 
Up Next
After a four-day layoff, the Railsplitters began a grueling stretch with three South Atlantic Conference tests in five days. That begins at 4 p.m. on Monday, December 14, when Lincoln Memorial tips off against Brevard in Boshamer Gymnasium.