HARROGATE, Tenn. – Dorian Pinson scored a career-high 30 points on a near perfect shooting performance to lead the No. 2 Railsplitters (18-1, 12-0 SAC) to a convincing 103-70 victory over the Tusculum Pioneers (5-14, 3-9 SAC) on Wednesday night at Tex Turner Arena.
 
With the win, Lincoln Memorial extended a number of impressive streaks, pushing its South Atlantic Conference winning streak to 26 while also posting its 17th consecutive win at Tex Turner Arena. In addition to that, the Railsplitters topped Tusculum for the 23rd straight time.
 
"I thought it was a really good effort," LMU head coach Josh Schertz said. "We moved the ball well, shared it and obviously defended at a high level. A lot of guys stepped up and contributed and it was a really good team win. I'm really pleased with our performance."
 
The Railsplitters were nearly flawless on both ends of the court. On the offensive side, Lincoln Memorial shot 57 percent from the field while handing out 24 assists and turning the ball over only six times. The Railsplitters were also nearly impenetrable on the defensive end, holding the Pioneers to 34 percent shooting while accounting for a 46-29 rebounding edge.
 
Pinson was the catalyst for the Railsplitters' eighth 100-point outburst of the season. The senior forward set a new career high by tallying 30 points on 14-of-16 shooting to go along with nine rebounds and two assists. He scored 16 of those points on a perfect 7-for-7 shooting in the second half.
 
"Dorian was terrific. He's as good as there is at getting inside a zone," Schertz said. "If you get him the ball in the middle of the lane against any type of zone it's really good for us. The guys did a good job of finding him and he did a good job of finding soft spots."
 
Emanuel Terry added 18 points and nine rebounds on 7-of-9 shooting, while Cornelius Taylor, Trevon Shaw and Alex Dahling scored 12 points apiece. Josh Odem was held scoreless in the contest but dished out a game-high eight assists. Dahling went a perfect 4-of-4 from three-point territory.  
 
Peyton Woods led the Pioneer attack with 16 points in 20 minutes off the bench, while Zailan Peeler contributed 15 points in 25 minutes off the bench. Those two were responsible for nearly half of Tusculum's point total while the team's five starters combined for only 27 points.
 
The win continued Lincoln Memorial's absolutely dominant run against the Pioneers, who fell for the 23rd straight time to the Railsplitters. LMU also defeated Tusculum for the 16th consecutive time in Harrogate.
 
"We have obviously had a good run against them," said Schertz, who moved to 24-1 against Tusculum in his tenure at LMU on Wednesday night. "Whatever has happened in the past doesn't usually influence anything that happens on the court that night. It's just one of those weird things in sports that's inexplicable."
 
The Pioneers were going toe to toe with the Railsplitters early and held a 13-11 lead after Peeler knocked down a couple of free throws with 15 minutes left in the first half.
 
However, Lincoln Memorial reeled off 15 unanswered points over the next stretch as part of a 32-8 all-consuming run that put the Railsplitters in front 43-21 with just over five minutes left in the frame.
 
The Railsplitters were able to extend the lead to as many as 26 in the half before taking a 57-37 lead into the break.
 
Lincoln Memorial shot nearly 70 percent from the field in the half, finishing 24-for-35 (68.6 percent). That included a gaudy 20-for-25 effort on two-pointers.
 
The Railsplitters kept their foot on the gas early in the second half and put the game to bed. Lincoln Memorial outscored the Pioneers 15-3 through the first four minutes of the half to build a commanding 72-40 lead on a pair of free throws from Terry.
 
From there on out, the Railsplitters' lead never dipped below 26 points.
 
Quick Hits
 
- Pinson's 30 points surpassed his previous career-high mark of 29, which came in a four-overtime win at Lenoir-Rhyne in December 2015.
 
- The Railsplitters absolutely obliterated the Pioneers in the paint, outscoring the visitors 54-14 inside the square. 32 of Tusculum's 62 total shot attempts were three-pointers.
 
- Lincoln Memorial also took advantage of all 12 Tusculum turnovers, converting those miscues into 22 points.
 
- The Railsplitters' 26-game SAC winning streak is quickly approaching the conference record of 29 that Lincoln Memorial set over the course of the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons.
 
Up Next
 
The Railsplitters welcome the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears to Tex Turner Arena on Saturday at 4 p.m. The Bears moved into fifth place in the SAC standings with a win over Coker on Wednesday night. Admission will be completely free of charge for that contest.