WINGATE, N.C. – Playing its sixth game in 12 days Saturday, the Lincoln Memorial University men's basketball team showed no signs of fatigue in another impressive victory at Wingate University in North Carolina. The fourth-ranked Railsplitters, who have won a national-best 14 games in 2020-21, reached the century mark for the eighth time this season in a 108-79 rout of the host Bulldogs (7-6, 7-6 SAC). Improving to 14-1 overall and 12-1 in the South Atlantic Conference, LMU scored 54 points in each half, shot over 60 percent from the field and had its best three-point shooting game of the season thus far.
 
Going 16-for-29 (55.2 percent) from beyond the arc, the Railsplitters shot 62.1 percent (41-of-66) for the 40 minutes and scored 48 points in the paint. Getting a combined 74 points from redshirt senior guard Devin Whitfield, redshirt junior guard Cameron Henry and junior forward Jordan Guest, all of whom had 20-point outings, LMU once again dominated the glass with a plus-16 rebound margin (41-25).

Notching their 46th win in their last 47 contests, the Railsplitters secured their 34th conference victory in their last 35 league games.
 
LMU got 26 points off of 15 Wingate turnovers and 18 points off of 11 offensive boards.
 
"I thought we shared the ball and played with purpose all night offensively," head coach Josh Schertz said following the triumph. "On the defensive end, I think we will look back at this game and say there are some things we can improve on. I certainly know that I feel that way. That being said, we have a hard-working, prideful group of guys that I have tremendous confidence in."
 
"We will just keep working hard to do things better and will work to do those things at a higher level on Wednesday," added coach Schertz.
 
Building a 13-point lead by halftime, the Railsplitters led by as much as 33 late in the second half and held the Bulldogs to under 50 percent shooting for the day.

A basket in the paint by Guest doubled up Wingate's point total at 16-8 five-and-a-half minutes in, before an 11-2 Bulldog run gave the hosts their first and only lead of the game. Three consecutive three pointers by Wingate's Miguel Priest and Rashaard Pringle put the Bulldogs in front 19-18 at the 12:54 mark of the first half. From there, LMU went on a game-changing 20-7 run over the ensuing seven minutes as the Railsplitters took a 12-point, 38-26 lead on a Whitfield three.
 
A pair of free throws from Whitfield with 1:11 to go in the half completed a 13-2 LMU run and gave the Railsplitters their first 20-point advantage of the day at 53-33. Wingate outscored LMU 8-1 in the closing 1:03 of the half, getting a three pointer from Francis Sio in the final seconds to make it a 54-41 game at the break.
 
The Railsplitters shot a remarkable 70 percent (21-of-30) in the first half, going 6-for-9 from long range and getting 15 points from Guest and 14 from Henry. The Bulldogs were hot from the field as well, shooting 55.2 percent (16-of-29) and connecting on six of their 13 three-point attempts (46.2 percent).
 
Ignited by three pointers from junior point guard Julius Brown and Whitfield, in addition to a bucket by Henry, LMU raced out to a 27-point lead after the first four minutes of second-half action. The 15-1 run, which was capped by another Whitfield trey, put the Railsplitters in front 69-42. LMU would continue to lead by no fewer than 22 points for the next five minutes of play. A three by Henry topped a 11-2 Railsplitter run and gave the Blue and Gray a comfortable 31-point, 89-58 lead with about nine minutes to go.
 
Guest nailed his third three pointer of the game with 6:15 remaining to give LMU its largest lead at 98-65. Wingate would get no closer than 25 the rest of the way as redshirt freshman guard Luke Bartemes scored five points down the stretch.
 
The Railsplitters went 20-for-36 (55.6 percent) in the second half and were 10-for-20 from deep while limiting the Bulldogs to 40.6 percent (13-of-32) shooting, including just 25 percent (3-of-12) from distance.

Whitfield finished with 28 points on 9-for-14 shooting, his 11th 20-point performance of 2020-21, and had five rebounds, while Henry scored 25 on 11-for-14 shooting and made a game-high four steals. Guest recorded his second career double-double with 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting and 10 rebounds and Julius Brown notched 11 points and dished out a career-high tying seven assists. Redshirt sophomore guard/forward Xavier Bledson claimed nine points, six boards and six assists off the bench.
 
Wingate also had four double-figure scorers with Sio (15), Pringle (14), Priest (12) and Andreas Wilson (12). The Bulldogs got nine points and six assists from preseason All-SAC Second Team guard Jarren Cottingham and seven rebounds and six points from Destin Clark in 14 minutes off the bench.
 
Up Next…
LMU begins a three-game homestand Wednesday night when the Railsplitters welcome nationally-ranked Queens University of Charlotte to B. Frank "Tex" Turner Arena. Next Saturday, Coker visits Harrogate before LMU closes out its homestand with Catawba next Monday, Feb. 8.

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 2020-21 season.