HARTSVILLE, S.C. -- College basketball games are played over 40 minutes and the end result typically does not become apparent until the final minutes make their approach, but the 12th-ranked Railsplitters ensured that the outcome of Saturday afternoon's South Atlantic Conference battle at Coker was a foregone conclusion before the first half even came to a close.
 
Lincoln Memorial (16-2, 12-0 SAC) opened on a 17-3 run, led wire-to-wire and absolutely dominated both ends of the floor to match the program's largest ever SAC victory with a 106-57 pummeling of the Cobras (6-10, 2-10 SAC) at the DeLoach Center in Hartsville, S.C.
 
All five starters hit double figures for the Railsplitters, led by Gerel Simmons' (Accokeek, Md.) 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting and a 3-of-4 mark from three-point range. Jalen Steele (Knoxville, Tenn.) scored 15 points and went a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point range, while Luquon Choice (Laurens, S.C.) and Curtis McMillion (Fayetteville, N.C.) added 13 points apiece. McMillion also grabbed six rebounds and notched two steals, while Choice posted four assists and two steals to his stat ledger. Dorian Pinson (Greenville, S.C.) finished in triple-double territory with 11 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
 
Curtis Webb (Spartanburg, S.C.) scored nine points in 17 minutes off of the bench, while Emanuel Terry (Enterprise, Ala.) also contributed to a strong showing by the Railsplitters' second unit with five points and 10 rebounds in 17 minutes.
 
Coker entered Saturday's game leading the SAC in scoring defense by allowing just 69.3 points per game. The Railsplitters very nearly reached the mark in the first half alone, unraveling 56 points on 62.5 percent shooting, including a 9-for-14 mark from long range. On the other end of the floor, Lincoln Memorial absolutely stonewalled the Coker offense, allowing just 6-for-29 shooting (20.7 percent) to carry an insurmountable 56-22 lead into the break.
 
Lincoln Memorial knocked down it first six shots of the game to power an early 13-0 spurt and connected on 13 of its first 16 shots overall to race out to a 30-9 lead on a basket by Simmons with 11:20 remaining in the half. Coker would get the lead below 20 points only one time after that, as Jalen Watson drained a three-pointer at the 7:01 mark to make it 38-20. However, the Railsplitters would end the half on a 16-2 run capped by back-to-back triples from Steele and Simmons to carry a commanding 34-lead into the break.
 
The Cobras could never close the gap to fewer than 29 points in the second half, while an 11-0 flurry expanded the Railsplitters' lead to 84-40 on a three-pointer by Webb with 10:03 left in regulation. Coach Josh Schertz cleared the bench shortly after that basket and the second unit continued to pull away from the Cobras, making it a 52-point game at 106-54 on a three-pointer from Hunter Spaw (Bean Station, Tenn.) with six seconds left. Kevin Branch would bank in a three-pointer from a couple of steps in front of half court as the final horn sounded to trim the final deficit to 49 points.
 
The 49-point triumph matched LMU's 110-61 win over Catawba on March 1, 2014 for the largest margin of victory in a SAC contest in program history. It marked the Railsplitters' second 40-point SAC win of the 2015-16 season, as they topped Wingate 103-57 back on December 16.
 
The Railsplitters finished 39-for-63 (61.9 percent) from the field, 14-for-24 (58.3 percent) from three, and 14-for-20 (70 percent) from the charity stripe, while holding Coker to an 18-for-60 (30 percent) mark from the floor and a 4-for-18 (22.2 percent) clip from downtown. It marks the third time this season Lincoln Memorial has shot better than 60 percent from the field and the eighth time they have eclipsed the 100-point mark.
 
Lincoln Memorial won its 12th straight SAC game to improve to 12-0 in league play this season. The Railsplitters are approaching both the 2010-11 and 2014-15 teams for the longest SAC winning streaks in program history (14).
 
Donte Samuels led the Cobras with 12 points and three rebounds, while Aubrey Daniel put up 11 points and five rebounds. Watson scored six points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Stefan Osborne added eight points.
 
Quick Hits
The Railsplitters' 56 first-half points nearly exceeded their output from the entire game in last season's meeting at Coker, which they won 62-58...Lincoln Memorial completes the regular-season sweep of Coker and improves to 6-0 all-time against the Cobras with the victory...The Railsplitters outrebounded Coker 42-30 after only having a two-rebound edge at the end of the first half (17-15)...A huge percentage of Coker's points were scored at the free-throw line, where they converted 17-of-22...LMU outscored Coker 40-18 in the paint, assisted on 20 of 39 field goals and produced a 33-13 advantage in bench scoring...The Railsplitters had a mere nine turnovers in the contest...The Railsplitters knocked down at least 14 three-pointers for the third time this season
 
Up Next
The Railsplitters travel to Jefferson City, Tenn. on Wednesday, January 27 to complete the regular-season series against Carson-Newman, with tip off set for 8 p.m. at Holt Fieldhouse. Lincoln Memorial topped the Eagles 98-82 in the SAC opener back on November 24.