HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lincoln Memorial men's basketball team beat Coker 83-68 on Saturday afternoon at Tex Turner Arena behind a balanced offensive attack.
 
The No. 8 Railsplitters (24-2, 14-1 South Atlantic Conference) led by double figures for the balance of the game following a 15-2 scoring run midway through the first half that stretched a 15-14 advantage into a 30-16 edge at the 5:11 mark of the opening period. They led 38-28 at the halftime break and would lead by at least 10 points for all but 17 seconds the remainder of the game.
 
Chase Rankin paced Lincoln Memorial with 15 points and eight assists, while four other Railsplitters also contributed double figures points: Jordan Guest (14 points, five rebounds), Quay Kennedy (12 points, seven rebounds), Luke Bartemes and Me'Kell Burries (11 points each).
 
The visiting Cobras (11-13, 5-9 SAC) were led by a game-high 24 points from guard Jordan Jones, but couldn't keep up with Lincoln Memorial 58 percent (29-50) shooting from the field. The hosts made 36.8 percent (7-19) of their 3-pointers and 78.3 percent (18-23) at the foul line while outrebounding Coker 31-21.
 
The win served as head coach Jeremiah Samarrippas' 50^th in just two seasons as a head coach. The head man's .877 winning percentage (50-7) is second to only Arizona's Tommy Lloyd (.887, 55-7) among active head coaches in all divisions of NCAA basketball.
 
Lincoln Memorial will hit the road to play at Limestone on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m.