HARROGATE, Tenn. – A dominant seven-minute stretch of the second half catapulted the Railsplitters to a commanding 104-82 victory over Mars Hill on Wednesday night at Tex Turner Arena. 
 
Lincoln Memorial (19-6, 13-4 SAC) led for the entirety of the final 35 minutes and outscored the Lions 21-5 from the 13-minute mark to the six-minute mark of the second half to defeat Mars Hill for the 20th consecutive time and win its fifth consecutive game overall. The Railsplitters also took over sole possession of second place in the South Atlantic Conference standings following Catawba's loss to Queens. 
 
The Railsplitters took the lead for good with 15:45 left in the first half and led by 14 points at the break, but Mars Hill continued to hang around early in the second stanza, cutting the LMU lead to as little at 10 points. A three-point play made it a 66-54 game with 13 minutes left in regulation
 
That's when Lincoln Memorial busted the game wide open, though, holding the Lions without a field goal for over a four-minute stretch to reel off 12 unanswered points and extend the lead to 78-54. 
 
Mars Hill briefly stopped the bleeding with three free throws and a bucket by Austin Gilyard, but the Railsplitters followed that up with another 9-0 spurt to expand the lead to 87-59 with only six minutes left to play. All told, LMU limited the Lions to 1-for-12 shooting over that stretch to put the game completely out of reach. 
 
Lincoln Memorial never led by less than 20 points for the remainder of the game. 
 
Courvoisier McCauley led the way once again for the Railsplitters, hitting double figures for the fourth time in five games with a game-high 19 points on a 5-for-8 mark from three. The freshman also snagged six rebounds. 
 
Cameron Henry reached double digits for the third consecutive game and secured his first career double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Julius Brown and Rhondi Hackett added 13 points apiece. Brown also handed out a team-high five assists. In limited playing time, Cornelius Taylor tallied 11 points on 4-for-9 shooting. 
 
The Railsplitters shot 49 percent from the field and went 13-for-33 from three-point territory. Mars Hill, meanwhile, shot only 38 percent from the field and 24 percent from three. 
 
The Lions were led in scoring by Ja'Shawn Brooks, who scored 17 points, but needed 17 shot attempts to hit that mark. Reggie Wright chipped in 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting, while Matthew Powell added 10 points and five boards. Tavion Trimble led Mars Hill with seven rebounds. 
 
The Lions got off to a red-hot shooting start, hitting five of their first seven shot attempts to hold a 10-9 lead four minutes into the game. 
 
However, Brown and Henry both buried three-pointers during an 8-0 scoring run that gave the Railsplitters the lead once and for all. 
 
Mars Hill trimmed the deficit to three with an old-fashioned three-point play after that, but a pair of 5-0 spurts as well as a 7-0 flurry extended the Railsplitters' lead to 36-20 with 7:34 left in the half. 
 
That was as high as the LMU lead would get until that second-half explosion, as the Lions pulled back within nine in the waning minutes of the first half. A three from Taylor concluded the first-half scoring and sent the Railsplitters into the locker room with a 54-40 cushion. 
 
Tip-Ins
 
- Lincoln Memorial dominated the rebounding battle to the tune of a 50-34 advantage. Five players had at least five rebounds for the Railsplitters compared to only two for the Lions. 
 
- The Railsplitters were solid at the charity stripe, converting 23 of their 27 attempts. Mars Hill also made the most of its trips to the free-throw line, making 24 of 28 tries. 
 
- Lincoln Memorial's bench contributed 45 points, led by McCauley's 19. Steven Perriere added seven in only 10 minutes, while Bryan Hart chipped in six in five minutes of burn. 
 
- The Railsplitters improved to 36-9 all-time against Mars Hill and extended their winning streak in the series to 20 games. The Lions have not topped LMU since January 2010.
 
- Alex Dahling hit two threes in the game and has now connected on exactly 100 in his career. The sophomore is the 20th player in program history to reach that mark. 
 
Up Next 
 
The Railsplitters play their final regular-season home game on Saturday when the Catawba Indians come to town for a key SAC showdown. LMU was ranked seventh in the first Southeast Region poll, while Catawba was slotted at No. 5. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. in Harrogate.