HARROGATE, Tenn. – Owning a 16-rebound advantage on the glass, shooting over 50 percent from the floor and reaching the century mark for the 10th time of the season, the red-hot and top-seeded Lincoln Memorial University men's basketball team eliminated eighth-seeded Mars Hill University 101-65 Wednesday night in the 2020 South Atlantic Conference Pilot Flying J Men's Basketball Tournament quarterfinals.
 
Extending the longest winning streak among all NCAA levels of basketball to a program and conference record-setting 30 games, the Railsplitters improved to 30-1 on the year. LMU is the only NCAA Division II program to have posted five 30-win campaigns in the last six years.
 
Clinching their 20th 20-point victory of 2019-20, the Railsplitters led from the start following a layup in the paint from redshirt senior forward Rhondi Hackett and never looked back. Outrebounding the visiting Lions (12-17) 50-34, LMU shot 52.8 percent (38-of-72) from the field and assisted on 22 of its baskets to earn its 23rd consecutive win against Mars Hill.
 
In a conference tournament quarterfinal game that saw only 13 combined turnovers, the Railsplitters held the Lions to 34.7 percent (26-of-75) shooting for the night while scoring 52 points in the paint and 32 off of the fastbreak.
 
Remaining unblemished in 2020 (18-0) and moving to 17-0 inside Tex Turner Arena this season, LMU got 24 points from its bench and led by 30 for the majority of the second half.

After a jumper by Mars Hill's Javonte Cooke got the visitors within one at 8-7, the Railsplitters built a 20-10 lead following the first 10 minute of action. The Railsplitters then raced out to a 20-point advantage on a 12-2 run over the next three minutes of play capped with a three pointer by sophomore guard Julius Brown. Outpacing the Lions 17-13 for the final six-and-a-half minutes of the first half, LMU took a 24-point, 49-25 lead into the locker room.
 
Hackett closed out the half with 16 points and six rebounds as the Railsplitters shot 51.4 percent (19-of-37) and went 7-for-8 at the free-throw line in the opening 20 minutes. Defensively, LMU limited Mars Hill to 10-for-34 (29.4%) first-half shooting and only two three pointers on 10 attempts.
 
After the Lions scored the first points of the second half and held the Railsplitters without a bucket for the first two minutes of play, a trey from sophomore guard Courvoisier McCauley broke open a 15-2 LMU run. A three by redshirt junior guard Devin Whitfield gave the Railsplitters a commanding 35-point lead at 64-29 with 14-and-a-half minutes to go.
 
Just over a minute of on-court action later, senior point guard Anthony Brown got a layup to go to give LMU its largest advantage of the night at 37 (68-31) with 13:20 remaining. Mars Hill would cut the margin under 30 three times but after a layup from Whitfield with just over four minutes left pushed the Railsplitters' lead back out to 35 (92-57), LMU was able to go deep into its bench down the stretch.
 
Freshman point guard Jeremiah Keene scored five points in the closing minutes as redshirt freshman guard MJ Armstrong collected a pair of layups.
 
The Railsplitters shot 54.3 percent (19-of-35) in the second half, went 6-for-15 (40%) from behind the arc and were 8-for-9 (88.9%) at the foul line. The Lions were also more efficient in the second 20 minutes of play, going 16-for-41 (39%) from the field and 5-for-17 (29.4%) from outside.
 
With 18 second-half points, Whitfield registered his team-leading fifth 30-point outing of 2019-20 on 11-for-16 shooting. He also provided eight rebounds, a pair of assists and a steal while going 5-for-5 at the charity stripe and knocking down a trio of triples. Anthony Brown had another near triple-double performance, finishing with 12 points, eight rebounds and a game-high six assists while redshirt sophomore guard Cameron Henry scored 13 and dished out four assists in 18 minutes off the bench. McCauley almost recorded his fourth-straight double-double, earning 11 points and nine rebounds, not to mention making four assists and grabbing a steal.
 
Mars Hill was paced by 24 points on 9-for-13 shooting from Matthew Powell, who scored 18 of his points in the second half. Jamal Bryant had 12 points and tallied a team-best eight rebounds and three assists for the Lions as Ja'Shawn Brooks scored nine.
 
Up Next…
The Railsplitters take on fourth-seeded Tusculum Saturday at 5 p.m. inside Timmons Arena on the campus of Furman University for the first semifinal game of the 2020 SAC Pilot Flying J Men's Basketball Tournament. The Pioneers ousted fifth-seeded Anderson 86-65 in the quarterfinals Wednesday night in Greeneville, Tennessee. Saturday's semifinal game will be streamed on SAC Live, while in-game statistics can be followed via StatBroadcast.
 
Taylor Family Chiropractic is the official sponsor of LMU's 2020 postseason.
 
How to Follow
Stay tuned to LMURailsplitters.com, as well as LMU's social media platforms - @LMURailsplitter on Twitter, @LMURailsplitters on Facebook and @lmurailsplitters on Instagram, for complete coverage of Railsplitter basketball throughout the 2020 postseason.