Lincoln Memorial University Athletics

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. -- The No. 2 nationally-ranked and defending NCAA Division II Southeast Region champion Railsplitters (1-0) opened the 2016-17 campaign in convincing fashion with a 92-70 dismantling of the King Tornado (0-1) on Friday evening in Greeneville, Tenn.
 
Lincoln Memorial put forth a suffocating defensive performance and an efficient offensive effort in spite of a tough night from beyond the three-point line to avenge an 83-69 loss to the Tornado in the 2015-16 season opener and improve to 8-1 in season openers under ninth-year head coach Josh Schertz.
 
"I'm happy with our performance from an effort and attention to detail standpoint," Schertz said. "Obviously it was one of those nights where we played pretty well, particularly defensively, and were fortunate King had an off night. There are lots of areas to improve and we will certainly try to be a little better tomorrow."
 
The Railsplitters shot 50 percent from the field, connecting on 34 of their 68 shot attempts. Most of Lincoln Memorial's offense came inside the three-point arc, though, as the Railsplitters finished 9-for-27 from three. However, Lincoln Memorial also went 15-for-22 from the free-throw line to offset that a bit.
 
On the other end, Lincoln Memorial forced King to miss its first nine shot attempts, which kick-started a stellar defensive effort that saw the Railsplitters hold the defending Conference Carolinas regular-season and tournament champions to just 35.5 percent shooting, including a dreadful 9-for-31 mark from three-point territory.
 
University of South Florida transfer Chris Perry (Bartow, Fla.) powered the Railsplitters in his debut, logging a game-high 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting to go along with seven points in 24 minutes off the bench.  Cornelius Taylor (Claxton, Ga.) also had a standout performance in his debut, as the redshirt-freshman scored 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting while notching two steals and a pair of rebounds. Emanuel Terry (Enterprise, Ala.) had 12 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks, while Hunter Spaw (Bean Station, Tenn.) connected on 4-of-7 from three-point range to score 12 points in 20 minutes off the bench.
 
The Railsplitters led wire-to-wire, opening the game on a 9-0 run, a stretch carried by five points from Taylor. King didn't get its first basket of the game until the 14:42 mark, as Jordan Floyd ended that 9-0 flurry with a layup. The Tornado eventually clawed back within two points, closing the deficit to 14-12 on another Floyd bucket, but a free throw by Perry, a jumper by Terry and a Spaw three pushed the Railsplitters back out to a 20-12 lead with 10:49 left in the half.
 
King kept within striking distance over the ensuing passage of play, cutting LMU's lead to 22-16 on a pair of free throws from Floyd. However, a jumper by Taylor at the 7:49 mark capped a 9-3 Railsplitter run, which put the four-time defending South Atlantic Conference champions in front 31-19.
 
That was the start of a dominant stretch of basketball for the Railsplitters, who extended their lead to 50-28 on a dunk by Perry with just over a minute left in the half. The Tornado would trim a bit off of that late, though, ending the half with four unanswered points. However, the Railsplitters, who shot 47.2 percent in the half and held King to an 11-for-32 effort over that same span, carried a 50-33 lead into the break.
 
Je'Don Young connected on a three-pointer with 16:36 left in regulation to cut the Railsplitters' lead to 56-40, however, Lincoln Memorial responded with a 10-0 flurry. Luquon Choice (Laurens, S.C.) capped that spurt with a jumper, which put the Railsplitters ahead 66-40.
 
The Tornado briefly halted the onslaught with a jumper by Derick Pope, but the Railsplitters scored the next six points using dunks by Terry and Perry to take a commanding 72-42 lead with 12 minutes left.
 
The end result was never in question after that, as the Railsplitters continued to hold a more than 30-point lead as the game neared the finish line. Devin Hankins (Huntsville, Ala.) scored with 1:57 left to give Lincoln Memorial a 92-61 lead before the Tornado ended it on a 9-0 run to close the final deficit to 22 points.
 
No King player scored double figures in the contest. Floyd and Noble Fahnbulleh led the Tornado with nine points apiece, while Derick Pope had eight points. Mack Owens and Je'Don Young had seven points apiece. The Railsplitters held All-Conference Carolinas first team selections Hunter LeVeau (five points) and C.J. Good (six points) to 11 combined points on 4-for-14 shooting.
 
The Railsplitters are back in action on Saturday at 3 p.m., as they face the Lees-McRae Bobcats on day two of the SAC vs. Conference Carolinas Challenge at Pioneer Arena in Greeneville, Tenn.
 
Quick Hits
-The Railsplitters outrebounded King 45-37 and grabbed 13 offensive rebounds in the contest, which resulted in 16 second-chance points. Terry and Perry combined for nine of LMU's 13 offensive boards.
-Dorian Pinson (Greenville, S.C.) filled out the stat sheet with five points, five rebounds, six assists and two steals, while Choice scored seven points and dished out four assists. In his debut for LMU, Trevon Shaw (St. Helena Island, S.C.) tallied nine points in 12 minutes of action.
-The Railsplitters improved to 67-26 all-time against King and defeated the Tornado for the 26th time in the last 28 meetings.