SALISBURY, N.C. -- A lockdown defensive effort and a strong run to end the first half helped the 16th-ranked Railsplitters (14-2, 10-0 SAC) remain unbeaten in South Atlantic Conference play with an 82-64 triumph over the Catawba Indians (7-9, 5-5 SAC) on Saturday afternoon at Goodman Gymnasium in Salisbury, N.C.
 
The backcourt trio of Gerel Simmons (Accokeek, Md.), Luquon Choice (Laurens, S.C.) and Jalen Steele (Knoxville, Tenn.) combined for 55 of Lincoln Memorial's 84 points. Simmons poured in 21 points on 6-of-12 shooting coupled with four rebounds and two assists, while Choice also scored 21 points on a 4-for-6 mark from three-point range to go along with four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Steele struggled from the field, connecting on just 4-of-12 field-goal attempts, but scored 13 points and led the Railsplitters with seven rebounds.
 
With his three-pointer at the 4:24 mark of the first half, Choice tallied his ninth point of the game and became just the 26th player in program history to join the 1,000-point club. He finished the game with his career point total sitting at 1,012, which is 50 points behind Cam Carden, who ranks 25th in school history with 1,062 points.
 
Curtis McMillion (Fayetteville, N.C.) added 10 points, six rebounds and three blocks in 19 minutes of action, while Emanuel Terry (Enterprise, Ala.) had eight points and five boards in just 12 minutes. 
 
Despite a slow start, the Railsplitters finished the game shooting 45.6 percent (26-for-57) from the field, 47.4 percent (9-for-19) from three-point territory and 80.8 percent (21-for-26) from the free-throw line, while holding the Indians to 25-for-66 shooting (37.9 percent) from the floor and a 5-for-17 clip (29.4 percent) from three. It marked the sixth time this season and the first time since at Newberry on December 19th that an opponent has failed to shoot better than 40 percent against the Railsplitters.
 
With the win, Lincoln Memorial opens SAC play with 10-straight wins for the second consecutive season and the third time of the Josh Schertz era. Both the 2010-11 and 2014-15 squads won 14-straight league games before suffering their first SAC losses.
 
Both teams struggled to get anything going offensively early in the first half, as Julian Sampah converted a pair of free throws for Catawba to cut LMU's slim lead to 12-10 at the 11:59 mark. But a quick 7-0 flurry, capped by McMillion's old-fashioned three-point play, increased the Railsplitters' lead to 19-10 with 8:38 left.
 
The Indians kept within striking distance, though, as a jumper from Jameel Taylor made it a 21-16 game with five and a half minutes to go. But that's when the Railsplitters effectively seized control, ending the half on an 18-6 run.
 
A Choice triple followed by a Simmons layup provided some momentum for that run and pushed the Railsplitters ahead 28-18 at 3:55. After a couple of Catawba buckets sandwiched around two Simmons free throws, which trimmed LMU's lead to 30-22, the Railsplitters concluded the half by scoring nine unanswered points to extend the deficit to 39-22.
 
The final outcome was never really in question in the second half, but Catawba hit 10 of its first 16 shots in the half and refused to go quietly.
 
Another Choice three-pointer ballooned the Railsplitters' lead to 42-23 less than a minute and 15 seconds into the half, but the Indians rallied off a 9-0 spurt over the next passage of play to close the gap to 42-32 at 16:58. Lincoln Memorial would maintain a steady 10-12 point lead over the next several minutes until Jerrin Morrison cut the deficit to single digits at 55-46 with a bucket at 11:54.
 
The Railsplitters responded, though, ripping off another 9-0 flurry to extend their lead back to 18 points at 64-46 on a pair of free throws by Steele. The Railsplitters' lead would later hit 20 points, as Terry slammed one home to make it 69-49 with 6:49 left.
 
The Indians pulled back to within 12 points at 73-61 with 1:52 to play, but it was too little, too late, as the Railsplitters scored the last seven points of the game to finish off the 82-64 victory.
 
Jameel Taylor was the lone Catawba player in double figures, as he tallied 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting. Andrew Ingram added nine points and matched Taylor's game-high mark with eight rebounds, while Jeremy McLauglin, Troy Warren and Rakeen Brown chipped in seven points apiece.
 
The Railsplitters finished with a 40-36 rebounding edge and outscored the Indians 34-32 in the paint.
 
Quick Hits
The Railsplitters defeated Catawba for the sixth straight time and for the 10th time in the last 11 meetings...The Indians finished with nine more field-goal attempts than Lincoln Memorial thanks to 13 offensive boards, but that only resulted in 11 second-chance points...Dorian Pinson (Greenville, S.C.) was limited to just three points, but he added six rebounds and three assists to his stat ledger...Catawba's Jerrin Morrison (12.1 points/game) matched a season-low with only two points on 1-of-6 shooting...The Railsplitters' bench outscored Catawba's 29-17
 
Up Next
The Railsplitters return to Tex Turner Arena to face the Tusculum Pioneers at 8 p.m. on Thursday, January 21. Lincoln Memorial has won 15 straight games against the Pioneers since 2010.