HARROGATE, Tenn. – A 15-0 second-half run helped the No. 4 Railsplitters (3-0) shake off the feisty Shorter Hawks (0-4) and pick up an 88-64 victory in the Tex Turner Arena opener on Saturday afternoon.
 
Lincoln Memorial led by as many as 15 points early but went cold after a blazing start and watched as Shorter fought all the way back to take a one-point lead right out of the gate in the second half. The Railsplitters locked back in after falling behind, though, outscoring the Hawks 44-19 over the final 16 minutes to improve to 3-0.
 
"We got out well, looked energetic and looked together, but we don't handle prosperity well at this point," LMU head coach Josh Schertz said. "When we try to deal with prosperity at the moment it seems like offensively the ball sticks and defensively we lose our attention to detail.
 
"I thought in the second half we defended with more energy for the most part. We went to the backboards a little more, started to play a little more in and out offensively and took better shots. We played better in spurts in the second half. It's a win and we will take it, but it's not one that anybody who played or coached in will get much joy from."
 
Trevon Shaw paced the Railsplitters with 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting and drained five of the team's 10 three-pointers. Emanuel Terry connected on nine of his 10 shot attempts to produce 19 points to go along with nine rebounds and a block. Dorian Pinson finished just shy of a triple-double with 12 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and three blocks, while Cornelius Taylor added 12 points and handed out six helpers.
 
The Railsplitters scored the first eight points of the contest and made nine of their first 11 shot attempts, including five of their first seven looks from beyond the arc, to race out to a 23-8 lead less than six minutes into the game.
 
With Lincoln Memorial threatening to put the game away early, the Hawks responded with a 12-0 run over the next passage of play to cut the deficit to 23-20 on a breakaway dunk from Josh Burnett with 10:26 remaining in the half.
 
The Railsplitters never relinquished the lead in the half but also never led by more than seven points, while Shorter fought back to tie it on two separate occasions at 32-32 and 34-34. Lincoln Memorial outscored the Hawks 10-5 over the final three and a half minutes to take a narrow 44-39 lead into the break.
 
Shorter then opened the second half by scoring six unanswered points to take its first and only lead of the game at 45-44 on a pair of free throws from TayVaughn Major right before the 16-minute mark.
 
After finding themselves losing to the winless Hawks on their home court, the Railsplitters refocused and dominated the rest of the way. Two buckets by Terry sandwiched around a three-pointer from Shaw kick started Lincoln Memorial's 15-0 run that blew the game open and put the home team ahead 59-46 with 11 minutes remaining in regulation.
 
The Railsplitters continued to extend the lead, using a three-pointer from Deshawn Patterson and a flush from Terry to make it a 69-49 game with eight minutes left. Lincoln Memorial would lead by as many as 25 points and never led by less than 18 from that point on.
 
It was a story of two halves for the Railsplitters, particularly on the defensive end. Shorter shot 53 percent through the first 20 minutes, but Lincoln Memorial held the visitors to 23 percent shooting in the second half, including a dreadful 1-for-14 mark from three. The Hawks finished the game with a 38.3 percent mark from the field.
 
"We have to develop a level of consistency and be able to play 40 minutes," Schertz said. "I still don't think we have put together a 40-minute game this year or come close. We don't play well unless we feel threatened. In the second half we got down one and we felt threatened.
 
"Once that happened we responded. The energy level picked up, the attention to detail picked up, the ball movement picked up and the things you've got to do to be a good team picked up, but we have to get to the point where we can do that without feeling threatened to do so."
 
The Railsplitters shot 56 percent and knocked down 10 of their 26 three-point attempts. Lincoln Memorial also assisted on 22 of its 36 field goals.
 
TayVaughn Major led Shorter with a game-high 22 points on 7-for-11 shooting, while Josh Burnett pitched in 20 points on an 8-of-15 effort. That duo also led the Hawks in rebounding with seven apiece. Amonte Parker chipped in 13 points but needed 12 shot attempts to reach that mark.
 
Quick Hits
 
- Shorter entered Saturday's contest having been outrebounded by an average of 25 in its first three games of the season but hung with the Railsplitters. Lincoln Memorial finished with a 39-32 rebounding edge in the game but was outrebounded 16-14 in the first half.
 
- Saturday marked the first-ever meeting between Lincoln Memorial and Shorter.
 
- The Railsplitters have won their first three games by an average of 26 points. That includes a 100-80 win over Lees-McRae and a 94-60 triumph over King.
 
- Lincoln Memorial's bench outscored Shorter's short-handed second unit 17-2. Kamaran Calhoun led the Railsplitters with six points off the bench.
 
Up Next
 
The Railsplitters turn right back around to face Shorter again on Tuesday when they make the return trip to Rome, Ga. for a 7 p.m. tip.