MARS HILL, N.C. -- The 15th-ranked Railsplitters (21-4, 16-3 SAC) opened the second half on a 21-6 run and outscored the Mars Hill Lions (5-20, 3-16 SAC) by 27 points over the final 20 minutes of regulation to power an 86-51 win at Stanford Arena on Wednesday night. 
 
The victory extends Lincoln Memorial's winning streak to 11 games and sets up a pivotal South Atlantic Conference showdown against the No. 10 Queens Royals on Saturday at Tex Turner Arena. Queens, who was slotted a spot ahead of LMU in the initial Southeast Regional rankings, defeated Catawba on Wednesday to retain a one-game lead over the Railsplitters in the SAC standings.
 
The loss dropped Mars Hill to 2-16 in its last 18 games, as the Railsplitters defeated the Lions for the 16th consecutive time and improved to 32-9 in the all-time series.
 
"I thought we played together and really guarded hard in the second half," LMU head coach Josh Schertz said. "I thought offensively we moved it, we found the open man, and a lot of guys stepped up. It's another good win."
 
Lincoln Memorial couldn't buy a bucket in the first half and shot just 41.7 percent with a 6-for-17 mark from three-point range, as Mars Hill kept pace and trailed 38-30 at the break. However, the Railsplitters absolutely dominated the second stanza, going 20-for-30 from the field (66.7 percent) while limiting the Lions to a dreadful 9-for-34 clip (26.5 percent) to notch their fifth straight win over Mars Hill by at least 20 points.
 
The trio of Chris Perry (Bartow, Fla.), Cornelius Taylor (Claxton, Ga.) and Luquon Choice (Laurens, S.C.) combined for 50 points. Perry led all players with 21 points on 8-for-11 shooting to go along with eight rebounds in 21 minutes of action. Taylor had 15 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals, while Choice pitched in 14 points (11 in the first half) with four three-pointers, four rebounds and two assists.
 
Trevon Shaw (St. Helena Island, S.C.) added nine points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals, while Emanuel Terry (Enterprise, Ala.) posted eight points, five boards and two blocks in 17 minutes off the bench.
 
Mars Hill led 7-4 after Justin Hartfield buried an early three-pointer, but back-to-back triples from Choice pushed the Railsplitters ahead 10-7 at the 16-minute mark. Lincoln Memorial was never quite able to pull away, though, while the Lions held leads of 15-13 and 17-16 before the Railsplitters took the lead for good at 18-17 on a bucket from Paul Woodson (Cincinnati, Ohio) with 11:28 remaining in the half.
 
The game was all knotted up at 22-22 after a Makyle Wilkerson basket at 8:25, but Lincoln Memorial went on a 16-6 run over the next passage to take a 38-28 lead on a Taylor three with 1:59 left. That would be the last points of the half for the Railsplitters, though, while the Lions cut the halftime deficit to 38-30 on a bucket from Dotson Griffin with 38 seconds left.
 
It took less than three minutes into the second half for the Railsplitters to tighten their chokehold on the lead, using a mini 12-2 spurt to make it a 50-32 game. Lincoln Memorial continued to push from there and finished off the 21-6 flurry with a three-pointer from Taylor at 14:11, which made it a 59-36 lead.
 
The Railsplitters never led by less than 20 points after that, while a 14-0 run that consumed more than a six-minute stretch extended Lincoln Memorial's advantage to 80-45 on a basket from Deshawn Patterson (Lenoir, N.C.) with three minutes remaining.
 
The lead crested at 37 points before LMU ultimately settled for the 35-point triumph.
 
Justin Hartfield was the only Mars Hill player in double figures as he led the Lions with 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Collin Hartman had nine points in 18 minutes off the bench, while nobody else scored more than five points for the home team.
 
The Railsplitters dominated the paint, outscoring the Lions 50-28 inside the square while accumulating a 54-37 rebounding edge. Lincoln Memorial also added 12 second-chance points off of 11 offensive rebounds.
 
Up Next
The Railsplitters return to Tex Turner Arena to host the No. 10 nationally-ranked Queens Royals on Saturday at 4 p.m. in a game that could possibly decide the South Atlantic Conference title and the host for the Southeast Regional. Queens defeated LMU 103-101 in overtime on January 9 in Charlotte, N.C. and holds a one-game lead over the Railsplitters in the SAC standings with three games left in the regular season.
 
Quick Hits
-The free-throw line was a non-factor in the game. LMU went 8-for-14 at the charity stripe while Mars Hill was 1-for-7.
-Twelve players scored in the contest for the Railsplitters.
-The Railsplitters assisted on 18 of their 35 field goals. Patterson and Taylor led the way with five assists apiece.
-Perry scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half