HARTSVILLE, S.C. – Led by double-doubles from seniors Emanuel Terry and Dorian Pinson, the No. 1 Railsplitters clinched their eighth consecutive 25-win season and their 32nd straight South Atlantic Conference victory with a gritty 85-70 win at Coker on Saturday. In the final road trip of the regular-season schedule, Lincoln Memorial (25-1, 18-0 SAC) also extended its nation-leading road winning streak to 21 games and moved to a perfect 10-0 all-time against the Cobras (11-15, 8-10 SAC).
 
The Railsplitters led for the majority of the game and never trailed by more than a single point, but had to slowly chip away late to ice their 14th straight overall victory.
 
"Coker played really well and for most of the game we weren't able to match their aggressiveness and competitiveness," said LMU head coach Josh Schertz. "I thought down the stretch we guarded fairly well and did a good job of attacking the rim and that allowed us to get to the finish line. It was a hard fought game against a good team so we will enjoy the win but we're certainly going to have to make some corrections and get better."
 
Lincoln Memorial was solid on the offensive end, shooting 52.5 percent despite a 5-for-18 effort from three-point range. The Railsplitters also helped themselves with an 18-for-20 performance at the free-throw line. Defensively, LMU held Coker to 34.7 percent shooting, but the Cobras canned 10 three-pointers and scored 22 second-chance points to remain within striking distance throughout the game.  
 
In his return from a one-game absence due to illness, Terry was spectacular, logging 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting to go along with 13 rebounds and four blocks. Pinson also posted a double-double with 18 points on a 7-of-8 effort at the free-throw line, a game-high 14 rebounds and four assists. Trevon Shaw added 19 points despite a forgettable 3-of-10 shooting clip from three. Josh Odem also hit double figures with 10 points and four rebounds.
 
Donte Samuels led Coker with 21 points and nine rebounds in 36 minutes of work. He was one of only two Cobras to reach double figures along with Marquis Green, who scored 14 in 20 minutes off the bench. Khalil Halls chipped in nine points on a dreadful 3-of-13 shooting.
 
The Railsplitters have now reached 25 wins in each of the past eight seasons, a remarkable achievement considering that the LMU men's basketball program had just four total 25-win seasons in its entire history prior to Schertz's arrival. Lincoln Memorial also extended its record SAC winning streak to 32 games and drew one step closer to notching the second perfect SAC season in league history.
 
A three-pointer from Pinson pushed the Railsplitters out to an early 8-2 lead at the 17:14 mark of the first half, but Coker clawed out of that hole to take a 13-12 lead on a triple from Samuels with 12:56 left in the half. Lincoln Memorial answered back with a 5-0 run before the Cobras took the lead once again at 20-19 on a Dakota Jennings bucket at the 10-minute mark.
 
The game continued to go back and forth over the ensuing passage until a bucket by Shaw and three free throws from Deshawn Patterson pushed the Railsplitters back in front 30-24. However, Green hit back-to-back-to-back three-pointers to give the Cobras a 33-32 advantage with 3:21 left in the first half.
 
It would be the Railsplitters' turn to answer after that, though, as the visitors closed out the first half with a 7-1 run to take a 39-34 lead into the break.
 
Lincoln Memorial never trailed in the second half and outscored the Cobras by 10 to pull away for the win, but Coker kept things close throughout.
 
After the Railsplitters raced out to a 51-40 lead on a bucket from Terry at the 16:05 mark, the Cobras scored back-to-back baskets to close the gap to nine points. The lead hovered in that vicinity until Ladarius Williams made a layup with 12:50 left to cut the deficit to 55-49.
 
Lincoln Memorial responded, though, using a three-pointer from Shaw and a three-point play by Terry to extend the lead to 63-52 with 10:34 left.
 
The Railsplitters' lead wouldn't drop below double figures again until Green hit another three with 8:10 remaining to make it 69-61. However, LMU answered with an 8-0 run to push the lead to 77-61 with just over six minutes left. That proved to be far too great a deficit for the Cobras to overcome, as LMU never led by less than 10 after that.
 
Quick Hits:
 
- The Railsplitters narrowly outrebounded the Cobras 41-40. However, Coker grabbed 20 offensive rebounds to overcome an otherwise shaky offensive performance.
 
- LMU turned the ball over only eight times and handed out 14 assists.
 
- The Railsplitters' bench was a mostly nonfactor with 11 combined points. Coker's second unit racked up 26 points.
 
- Lincoln Memorial completes the regular season with a perfect 12-0 mark away from Tex Turner Arena.
 
Up Next:
 
The Railsplitters close out the regular season with a pair of home games, beginning with archrivals Carson-Newman at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, February 21.