MARS HILL, N.C. – The Lincoln Memorial University men's basketball program traveled through the Appalachian Mountains to the campus of Mars Hill for a South Atlantic Conference matchup and reached the century mark for the first time this season as the Railsplitters defeated the Lions on Saturday afternoon, 101-70.
 
The Lions (4-6, 4-3 SAC) got out to a quick start, but the Railsplitters (8-1, 5-1 SAC) responded quickly and shot 53.7 percent in the first half to take a 54-37 lead into the halftime break. Overall, LMU shot 51.4 percent on the afternoon while limiting the Lions to 40.3 percent from the field. It was all Railsplitter on the rebounding game this afternoon as the Splitters pulled down 48 boards compared to 29 rebounds by Mars Hill.
 
Mars Hill jumped out to a 10-8 lead at the first media timeout, but the Railsplitters did not go away quietly as redshirt freshman Me'Kell Burries came off the bench and connected on his first two attempts to give LMU a 13-10 lead, and the Railsplitters held onto the lead for the remainder of the contest. Lincoln Memorial pushed their lead to double digits at the 8:38 mark in the first half as the Splitters took a 34-24 lead. Lincoln Memorial continued to create separation as they went into the break up 54-37 over Mars Hill.
 
Keeping the separation they created in the first half, the Railsplitters were able to continue to use their dominant offense to further extend their lead. Shooting 48.4 percent in the second half, Lincoln Memorial was able to use a 16-6 run to push their lead to 80-60. The Lions tried to claw their way back into the Splitter lead, but it was no match as Lincoln Memorial was able to close out the contest with a 101-70 victory over Mars Hill.
 
Rankin led the way for Lincoln Memorial as the Columbus, Ohio native netted a season-high 20 points and tossed for a career-high 13 assists in the win. Four other Railsplitters also netted double digits with Burries leading the way with 19 points followed by junior Jordan Guest with 18 points. Jordan Walters finished the afternoon with 15 points and seven rebounds while junior Martez Brown closed out the contest with 10 points.
 
Up Next
 
The Railsplitters will play host one more time in 2021 as they welcome UVA Wise to Tex Turner Arena on Wednesday, December 15 for a midweek South Atlantic Conference matchup. The contest is slated to tip-off at 7:30 p.m. ET and will be live stream on the LMU Sports Network.
 
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 2021-22 season.