HARTSVILLE, S.C. -- Fueled by 80 combined points from the starting five, the Railsplitters (14-4, 9-3 SAC) shot 60.3 percent and blasted the Coker Cobras (6-12, 3-9 SAC) 97-60 in South Atlantic Conference men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon in Hartsville, S.C. The game was called early after storms knocked out the electricity at the DeLoach Center with 2:42 left in regulation.
 
The storms raging outside of the DeLoach Center came as a small reprieve for the Cobras, who put up little resistance against the Railsplitters. Lincoln Memorial went 35-for-58 from the field, knocked down 13 of its 21 three-point attempts, built a 25-point lead at the half and held Coker to 32.3 percent shooting to win its fourth consecutive game.
 
"I thought we competed better which is half the battle if not more," LMU head men's basketball coach Josh Schertz said. "We played a fairly solid game on both ends of the floor, but obviously still need to improve. I thought their physicality bothered us, and you can see that in their offensive rebounding numbers as well as the amount of turnovers we committed."
 
All five LMU starters finished in double figures, led by Chris Perry's (Bartow, Fla.) 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting to go along with four rebounds. Luquon Choice (Laurens, S.C.) tallied 18 points on 4-for-6 shooting from three to go with six rebounds, three assists and three steals, while Trevon Shaw (St. Helena Island, S.C.) notched 16 points. Cornelius Taylor (Claxton, Ga.) logged 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting, while Dorian Pinson (Greenville, S.C.) filled out the stat sheet with 10 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
 
The Railsplitters did just about everything right against the Cobras, outrebounding the home team 39-32 and converting 16 Coker turnovers into 23 points. Lincoln Memorial also outscored the Cobras 34-20 in the paint and assisted on 19 of its 35 field goals. The Railsplitters did, however, allow 15 offensive rebounds that resulted in 12 second-chance points and committed 15 turnovers.
 
It didn't take long for Lincoln Memorial to assert control. The Cobras started quick and jumped out to a 6-3 lead on a Demarco Jackson jumper at the 17:04 mark. However, the Railsplitters followed that up with a 14-0 flurry, pulling ahead 17-6 on back-to-back jumpers from Paul Woodson (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Choice with 13 and a half minutes left in the half.
 
The Cobras stayed within striking distance over the next passage of play, but three consecutive three-pointers from Choice, Hunter Spaw (Bean Station, Tenn.) and Deshawn Patterson (Lenoir, N.C.) pushed the lead to 30-14 with 9:30 left. The Railsplitters' lead continued to grow as the half progressed, bulging to 24 points following a 13-0 LMU run.
 
Lincoln Memorial led by as many as 28 points in the first half before LaDarius Williams scored the last three points of the frame to trim the Railsplitters' halftime cushion to 57-32. The Railsplitters shot 66.7 percent from the field and went 7-for-11 from three through the first 20 minutes.
 
The end result was never in question in the second half, as the Railsplitters opened on a 13-4 spurt, taking a 70-36 lead on a three-pointer from Pinson at 15:09. Lincoln Memorial eventually extended the lead to 37 points, which ended up being the final margin of victory.
 
Jalal Abdul-Azeez led the Cobras with 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting, while LaDarius Williams notched nine points with three rebounds. JaQuez Motley put up eight points on 3-of-10 shooting, while Larry Cooper had seven points off the bench.
 
Up Next
The win over Coker sets up a pivotal South Atlantic Conference showdown against the Carson-Newman Eagles on Wednesday at 8 p.m. inside of Tex Turner Arena. Carson-Newman is tied for second place in the SAC standings and has won four consecutive games. The Eagles defeated the Railsplitters in overtime back on November 22 in Jefferson City, Tenn.
 
Quick Hits
-The Railsplitters moved to 8-0 all-time against Coker with the victory. It was their third straight win over the Cobras by at least 35 points.
-Woodson had six points and led the Railsplitters with seven rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench. Patterson scored six points in eight minutes off the bench after making his first appearance since January 4.