HARROGATE, Tenn. – The 23rd-ranked Railsplitters (7-2, 3-1 SAC) built a 31-point lead at the half and never let up in a 100-50 win over the short-handed Brevard Tornados (1-7, 0-3 SAC) in South Atlantic Conference men's basketball action on Monday night at Tex Turner Arena.
 
Lincoln Memorial allowed just 17 points in the first half, the fewest the Railsplitters have surrendered in a half since holding Lenoir-Rhyne to 16 points in the first half of a 69-37 win on February 14, 2015, to capture its fourth straight win by at least 40 points.
 
"Early in the game I thought we had some breakdowns defensively. We gave up a couple of backdoors and the ball didn't move offensively," LMU head coach Josh Schertz said. "But then we went super small with Dorian Pinson and Paul Woodson at the four and five and we opened up the floor. The ball moved much better and we put together a couple really good spurts on both ends of the ball and we were able to get separation. I thought for the most part we did a lot of good things."
 
The Railsplitters were without starting power forward Emanuel Terry (Enterprise, Ala.), but it made little difference in the outcome as senior center Chris Perry (Bartow, Fla.) poured in a season-high 27 points on 12-for-16 shooting to go along with nine rebounds. Perry nearly outscored the Tornados by himself while equaling Brevard's field-goal count in the first half, tallying 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting.
 
Luquon Choice (Laurens, S.C.) added 13 points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals and three blocks on a 3-of-6 mark from three-point range, while Cornelius Taylor (Claxton, Ga.) had 12 points, three assists and two rebounds. Dorian Pinson (Greenville, S.C.) and Trevon Shaw (St. Helena Island, S.C.) added eight points apiece, while Pinson also chipped in nine assists, four rebounds and three steals.
 
The Railsplitters finished shooting 51.4 percent from the floor and 46.2 percent from three-point range, while Brevard went just 16-for-59 (27.1 percent) from the floor and 4-for-15 (26.7 percent) from the three.
 
The Railsplitters started slow as Brevard took a 6-5 lead at the 16:58 mark on a jumper from Omar El Diraoui, but the rout began shortly thereafter.
 
Lincoln Memorial used an 11-0 run to build a 16-6 lead on a jumper from Deshawn Patterson (Lenoir, N.C.) at the 12:47 mark. The Tornados answered with baskets from Jamarquis Johnson and Shelby Parris, but that merely slowed the torrent for a moment, as the Railsplitters countered by scoring 11 unanswered points again to pull ahead 30-10 on Taylor's third three-pointer of the half with 8:32 left.
 
After a short drought for the Railsplitters, the Tornados trimmed the deficit to 16 points with 6:23 left in the half on a bucket by Stevie Williams and a pair of free throws from Parris. However, Brevard would score just three points the rest of the half, as LMU closed on an 18-3 run to go into the break with a commanding 48-17 lead.
 
Lincoln Memorial allowed Brevard to make just seven field goals in the first half and forced the Tornados into an 0-for-6 mark from three to build that 31-point cushion.
 
"I think we were focused," Schertz said. "With Brevard and the Princeton offense, a lot of it is predicated on making sure that you're disciplined relative to your execution. Basically the Princeton offense is designed to get lay-ups and threes and you have to take that away. For the most part we did. And when they did get inside, for the most part our length and activity bothered them and made finishing a difficult proposition."
 
The second half was merely a formality, but the Railsplitters opened on a 10-3 run to extend their lead to 58-20 on a pair of free throws from Shaw at the 17-minute mark. LMU's lead eclipsed 40 points on a lay-up from Shaw just a minute later. The Railsplitters didn't allow a point for the final three minutes of regulation, closing on an 8-0 run to tidy up the 50-point win.
 
Stevie Williams paced Brevard with 15 points on 6-for-16 shooting, while Omar El Diraoui had 11 points, five rebounds, three assists and four blocks in 18 foul-plagued minutes. Shelby Parris was the only other Brevard player in double figures, posting 10 points on a 6-of-6 mark at the charity stripe.
 
Monday night's game was the final one of a stretch that saw the Railsplitters play three games in five days. But now Lincoln Memorial will get a much-needed break as the Railsplitters will not play again until they travel to Wingate on December 14. That's time that Coach Schertz and his staff plan to use wisely.
 
"We're going to give the guys two days off. We're in the middle of finals so that has to become the priority. We'll reconvene for practice on Thursday. Starting on Thursday, we can really start to focus on what we need to do to improve from an execution and technique standpoint.
 
"Obviously we haven't had much practice time. We've played nine games in 24 days to start the season. We haven't really had a chance to string some practices together. The next week will give us a chance to not prepare, but work on ourselves before we start preparing for Wingate on Monday."
 
Up Next
After wrapping up the fall semester with finals week, the Railsplitters return to action on Wednesday, December 14 when they head to Wingate, N.C. to face the Wingate Bulldogs at 8 p.m. in a rematch of last season's SAC Championship title game.
 
Quick Hits
-The Railsplitters crushed the Tornados 52-30 on the backboards and allowed Brevard to collect just three offensive boards. Paul Woodson (Cincinnati, Ohio) led all players with 11 rebounds in 18 minutes.
-Monday was the final regular-season meeting between Lincoln Memorial and Brevard at Tex Turner Arena. The Tornados are making the transition to Division III next season.
-The Railsplitters moved to 19-3 all-time against Brevard following Wednesday's win. Lincoln Memorial extended its winning streak in the series to 12 games.