HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lincoln Memorial University men's basketball program got hot early and reached the century mark for just the second time this season as the Railsplitters defeated Limestone, 107-72, on Wednesday evening at Tex Turner Arena.
 
Lincoln Memorial (13-2, 10-2 SAC) and the Saints (6-7, 4-7 SAC) battled back and forth in the opening minutes, but the Splitter offense found their grove and went into high gear as they hit 54.5 percent of their shots from the floor in the first half while the Blue and Gray defense held strong and allowed Limestone to shoot just 34.4 percent in the half.
 
The Railsplitter defense also dominated the glass as LMU brought down 45 rebounds compared to 30 rebounds by Limestone. Junior Martez Brown led the way with a game-high 11 rebounds followed by Jordan Walters with seven. Lincoln Memorial was able to make quick work in the passing game as they tallied 23 assists with Alex Dahling and Chase Rankin leading with five each.
 
Opening the game on a 7-2 run, the Railsplitters' hot start and high tempo came out fast, pushing the Splitter lead to 20-8. The Saints pulled to within seven at the 7:43 mark, but a jumper by Me'Kell Burries sparked a 19-2 run by LMU to push the lead to 47-23. Limestone tried to claw away at the Railsplitter lead, but Lincoln Memorial went into the half up, 54-33.
 
Both programs came out of the break and traded baskets before the Railsplitters pushed their lead up on the Saints to 72-41. Lincoln Memorial's offense was able to stay hot in the second half as they kept the separation with Limestone for the course of the second half, closing out the contest with a 9-6 run to capture the win, 107-72, over Limestone.
 
Graduate student Alex Dahling paved the way with a team-high 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting and added six rebounds and five assists on the night. Dahling is just five points away from hitting 1,000 career-points at Lincoln Memorial. Burries followed Dahling as he finished the night with 19 points. Freshman Matthew Sells finished the night with 18 points after shooting 50 percent from the field.
 
Up Next
 
The Railsplitters will close out their four-game home stand when they welcome Mars Hill to Tex Turner Arena on Saturday, January 15 for a 4 p.m. tip-off. There will be a special recognition at the halftime of the men's contest.
 
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.