HARROGATE, Tenn. -- The 16th-ranked Railsplitters (13-2, 9-0 SAC) used an 18-0 run late in the first half to power through a sluggish start and fuel an 85-72 victory over the Anderson Trojans (5-10, 3-6 SAC) to remain perfect in South Atlantic Conference play on Wednesday night at Tex Turner Arena.
 
On a night when most of the pieces constituting Lincoln Memorial's high-octane offense struggled, Luquon Choice (Laurens, S.C.) and Curtis McMillion (Fayetteville, N.C.) thrived, combining for 48 points on 18-of-24 shooting. The rest of the Railsplitters, meanwhile, accounted for just 37 points on 12-for-39 shooting. Choice logged 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting coupled with nine rebounds and four assists, while McMillion notched 22 points on 9-for-11 shooting with six rebounds and a pair of blocks. In the process, Choice pulled to within nine points of joining the career 1,000-point club.
 
"We talked about in the locker room that it was a pretty lackluster performance across the board tonight, but Luquon and Curtis were outstanding," LMU head men's basketball coach Josh Schertz said. "Curtis gave us a great interior presence. We were able to throw the ball inside and that settled us down, because we were too three-happy early."
 
Jalen Steele (Knoxville, Tenn.) added 13 points and three assists, while Gerel Simmons (Accokeek, Md.) was limited to a 3-for-12 clip and 10 points in 38 minutes of action. Dorian Pinson (Greenville, S.C.) racked up nine points, a game-high 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals.
 
The Railsplitters missed their first six shots of the game and didn't score a single point until Steele connected on a three-pointer at the 16:29 mark. But the Trojans were also off target offensively in the early going, as a bucket by Simmons put Lincoln Memorial out to a 14-6 lead with 12 minutes left in the half. The Railsplitters would go absolutely ice cold over the next seven minutes, though, making just 3-of-10 from the field to help Anderson rip off a 22-10 run and take a 28-24 lead with 5:17 left.
 
Lincoln Memorial would flip the script before the first half came to a close, though, connecting on 6-of-6 from the field, including 4-of-4 from three-point territory, to pace a 18-0 run that consumed a little over three minutes of game clock. Over that same span, Anderson was held to a 0-for-4 clip from the field with a turnover. Choice buried three three-pointers over that run and pushed the Railsplitters out to a 42-28 lead by the two-minute mark.
 
"We struggled to guard them off the bounce for most of the night. We talked about trying to win individual matchups, but they have tremendous ball handlers and drivers," Schertz said. "For that stretch though, defense ruled the day and fueled our offense. We were able to get out and play with some pace and that changed the dynamic of the game."
 
Choice later drained his fourth three-pointer of the half to send the Railsplitters into the break with a 46-31 lead.
 
The Railsplitters' lead was never less than 10 points in the second half, but Anderson hit 17 of its 30 shots (56.7 percent) over the final 20 minutes to keep within striking distance.
 
The Trojans made it a 10-point game at 46-36 on a three-pointer from Randall Shaw with 18:54 to go, but back-to-back baskets by McMillion extended LMU's cushion to 14. Anderson pulled to within 11 points on numerous occasions over the next stretch, as a Lex Davis triple made it 62-51 at 11:43. However, an 8-2 spurt increased the Railsplitters' advantage to 70-53 a little over four minutes later.
 
Anderson would not get that close again until Shaw buried another three-pointer to close the gap to 79-68 with 2:19 to go. But McMillion finished off a one-handed, alley-oop slam - beautifully assisted by Choice -  to increase the lead back to 13 and essentially ice the game.
 
The Railsplitters finished shooting 47.6 percent (30-for-63) from the field, 34.8 percent (8-for-23) from three and 65.4 percent (17-for-26) from the free-throw line, as compared to Anderson's 43.5 percent (27-for-62) mark from the field, 45.5 percent (10-for-22) clip from three and 47.1 percent (8-for-17) effort from the charity stripe.
 
Shaw paced the Trojans with a game-high 27 points on 9-of-17 shooting. Tre' Fields contributed 13 points in 22 minutes off of the bench, while Davis had 11 points on a 5-for-9 clip from the field. Maurice Howard dished out a game-high 10 assists.
 
Quick Hits
The Railsplitters defeated the Trojans for the fifth straight time and improved to 3-3 all-time against Anderson at Tex Turner Arena...Rebounds finished dead even at 39 apiece, much like many other statistical categories - Assists: LMU 14, AU 15 Second-chance points: LMU 13, AU 14 Points in the paint: LMU 34, AU 30...Lincoln Memorial's bench produced a season-low five points, as Anderson's second unit outscored the Railsplitters' 22-5...The Railsplitters led for 32 of the 40 minutes
 
Up Next
Lincoln Memorial heads to Salisbury, N.C. on Saturday, January 16 to face the Catawba Indians in South Atlantic Conference action. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Goodman Gymnasium.