HARROGATE, Tenn. – Claiming its 48th win in 49 outings, the Lincoln Memorial University men's basketball team defeated Catawba College 106-72 in potentially its final home game of the regular season Monday night inside B. Frank "Tex" Turner Arena. Reaching the century mark for the ninth time of 2020-21, the fourth-ranked Railsplitters turned in another splendid offensive performance by shooting 63.8 percent from the field and assisting on 31 of their 37 made baskets.
 
Extending its win streak to nine, LMU increased its nation-leading win total to 16 and furthered its lead in the 13-team South Atlantic Conference by improving to 14-1 in the league and 16-1 overall. The Railsplitters have won 36 of their last 37 conference contests.
 
Scoring 48 points in the paint and getting 39 points off its bench, LMU turned 14 Indian turnovers into 24 points and collected 28 of its 106 points on fastbreaks. Owning a slight, four-rebound advantage on the glass (39-35), the Railsplitters held Catawba (4-8, 4-8 SAC) to just 30.8 percent (12-of-39) second-half shooting and limited the Indians to 33.8 percent (24-of-71) from the floor for the night.
 
Behind four double-figure scorers and two double-double performers, LMU scored at least 50 points in each half and shot 64.5 percent (20-of-31) across the opening 20 minutes, including going 8-for-15 from beyond the arc. After four lead changes in the first 12 minutes, the Railsplitters led from the 6:40 mark of the first half forward.
 
LMU trailed 8-5 after three minutes of action and found itself down 10-5 at the first media timeout. A third three pointer by Catawba put the visitors up by eight at 13-5 through five minutes of play.
 
Sparked by a nifty pass from redshirt sophomore guard/forward Xavier Bledson to an open Jordan Guest for an easy layup, the Railsplitters went on a 11-2 run take a 16-15 lead. Knotted at 24 with 7:13 to go in the first half, LMU outscored the Indians 12-2 over the following 4:24 to mount a 10-point lead at 36-26.

A fast-paced 14-0 run in just over two minutes with a pair of three pointers from senior guard Alex Dahling, a three from junior forward Guest and a triple by junior point guard Julius Brown put the Railsplitters ahead 50-29. With under 30 seconds left in the half Catawba would get a layup but that would be all as LMU took a convincing 19-point, 50-31 margin into the locker room.
 
Getting 13 first-half points from Julius Brown, 11 from Dahling and 10 from Guest, the Railsplitters held the Indians to 37.5 percent shooting and 5-for-11 from outside in the opening half after the visitors began the game 3-for-4 from deep.

An acrobatic and-one layup from Guest as he was falling to the ground behind the goal began an 11-4 run comprised of six points from Guest and five from redshirt junior guard Cameron Henry to increase LMU's lead to 26 at 63-37 after four minutes of second-half play. Putting the game out of reach for Catawba, the Railsplitters outscored their opponent 20-10 over a six-minute stretch to build a 32-point advantage at 83-51 with only 8:43 remaining.

Threes by redshirt freshmen Me'Kell Burries and Simon Wilbar and redshirt sophomore guard Chase Rankin kept the momentum with LMU down the stretch. A hook shot by forward Wilbar gave the Railsplitters their largest lead of the night at 36 with just under 30 seconds left.

Keeping the Indians in check from three-point land in the second half (2-for-12), LMU shot 63 percent overall in the half and went 5-for-12 from distance to finish 48.1 percent (13-of-27) from long range for the contest.
 
Guest recorded his third career double-double with a team-high 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Bledson also notched his third double-double with a career-high 11 assists and 11 points to go along with five boards in only 21 minutes off the bench. Julius Brown finished with 16 points and four assists and Dahling added 13 points and five rebounds. Redshirt freshman guard Jeremiah Keene, Whitfield and Henry each scored nine points in the affair.
 
Catawba got 20 points apiece from Bernard Pelote and Caleb Robinson, who also contributed a team-high seven boards. Larry McLeod added 10 points, six rebounds and five assists for the Indians.
 


Up Next…
The Railsplitters hit the road for a four-game road trip to close out the regular season beginning Saturday, Feb. 13 at Newberry. Tip-off from inside Eleazer Arena in Newberry, South Carolina, is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Next Wednesday, Feb. 17, LMU takes on local adversary Tusculum University at 8 p.m. in Greeneville, Tennessee.

How to Follow
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