MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The No. 3 Railsplitters were unable to overcome a 20-point, first-half deficit in an 81-75 loss at Christian Brothers on Saturday afternoon at Canale Arena. 
 
The Bucs (3-0) were red-hot at the start and built an early 27-7 lead. Lincoln Memorial (1-2) rallied back and cut the deficit to as little as one but was never quite able to get over the hump, as Christian Brothers led from start to finish to drop the Railsplitters to 1-2 for the first time since the 2007-08 season. It also marks the first time LMU has lost back-to-back games since November 2016. 
 
Four players scored in double figures for the Railsplitters, led by Cornelius Taylor's 23 points on a 5-for-9 effort from three-point range. Cameron Henry and Xavier Bledson added 13 points apiece, while Bledson also led the team with eight rebounds. Kamaran Calhoun chipped in 10 points and four boards. 
 
Joe Laravie, Adam Dieball and Nick Deifel carried the Christian Brothers attack. Laravie had a game-high 24 points on a sizzling 10-for-16 shooting, while Dieball was a one-man wrecking crew with 19 points, 10 assists and five rebounds. Deifel chipped in 17 points on a perfect 7-for-7 mark from the free-throw line, while Jacob Lyons added nine points. 
 
Lincoln Memorial was much improved from an offensive efficiency standpoint, shooting 45 percent from the floor despite a 9-for-28 effort from three. However, Christian Brothers posted a 55 percent mark from the field and scored 21 points off 17 LMU turnovers. 
 
The Bucs jumped all over the Railsplitters right out of the gate, knocking down seven of their first nine shots, including four triples to race out to a commanding 20-5 lead by the 14:21 mark of the first half.  
 
A bucket from Ricky Clark halted a two-minute scoring drought for Lincoln Memorial, but Christian Brothers continued to push the pace, as a three-pointer from Lyons and a bucket from Deifel capped a 7-0 run that gave the home team a 27-7 lead with 11:14 still remaining in the half.  
 
After falling behind by 20, the Railsplitters started to pick up the pace defensively and turned the momentum in their favor, forcing five Christian Brothers turnovers to spark a 13-0 run that cut the deficit to 27-20 by the five-minute mark. Five different players scored for LMU during that run, led by four points apiece from Courvoisier McCauley and Henry. 
 
A basket from Laravie ended that LMU run, but Taylor canned a three-pointer at the four-minute mark and dropped in another bucket a minute and a half later to pull the Railsplitters within two points at 29-27. 
 
That's as close as it would get for the Railsplitters before the half ended, though, as Dieball and Laravie connected on three-pointers on back-to-back possessions and Lyons scored with 11 seconds left to send the Bucs into the break with a 37-30 lead. 
 
Both teams shot 52 percent in the half, but the two teams also combined for 22 turnovers. LMU accounted for 12 of those, which turned into 16 points for the Bucs on the other end of the floor. 
 
The Railsplitters used five straight points from Henry and a pair of free throws from Calhoun to quickly cut the Bucs' lead to two early in the second half before Laravie halted a 7-0 LMU run with a jumper to make it a 41-37 game with 16:28 to play. 
 
One minute later, Alex Dahling hit a three-pointer to pull the Railsplitters within one, but they were again unable to get over the hump as Christian Brothers responded with six unanswered points to extend its lead to 47-40 with 13:39 remaining. 
 
Lincoln Memorial continued to plug away and closed the gap to three points on two separate occasions over the next passage of play, including 52-49 on a triple from Taylor with 10:31 left. However, the Bucs scored six unanswered points again after Taylor's three to push their lead back to 58-49 with less than 10 minutes to play. 
 
A bucket from Taylor and a three-pointer from Bledson brought LMU back within four before Dieball hit a pair of free throws and Deifel finished off an old-fashioned three-point play to keep the Bucs in front 63-54 at the under-8 media timeout. 
 
The Railsplitters were unable to cut the deficit to less than five points over the next stretch, while a bucket from Laravie extended the Christian Brothers lead to 70-61 with just over 3:30 left in regulation. 
 
After a pair of free throws from Henry made it a 70-63 game, Dieball hit arguably the biggest shot of the game when he buried a three-pointer with the shot clock running out to push the Bucs lead back out to 73-63 with less than three minutes to play. 
 
LMU never trailed by less than four the rest of the way as Christian Brothers closed out the game at the charity stripe. 
 
Quick Hits 
 
- The Railsplitters have now failed to lead for their last three halves of basketball. LMU last led with 18:53 left in the first half of last Saturday's loss at USC Aiken. 
 
- Lincoln Memorial scored 30 fast-break points compared to only five for Christian Brothers. 
 
Up Next 
 
The Railsplitters make their Tex Turner Arena debut on Tuesday when they host Paine for an 8 p.m. tip-off.