Men's Basketball Falls to Lincoln Memorial

MARS HILL, N.C. – The Mars Hill men's basketball team fell at the hands of No. 19 Lincoln Memorial by the score of 120-84 on Wednesday, January 06 at Stanford Arena. MHU is now 5-8 overall and 1-6 in league play while LMU improves to 11-2, 7-0.

Justin Yeargin powered the offense for the Lions as he collected 24 points with five triples. Jalen Witherspoon and Patrick Monroe reached double-figures as well with 16 and 11, respectively. The Lions shot 44.6% from the field and 54% form three, but only 41.4 % from the free throw line.

The Railsplitters were led by Gerel Simmons who poured in a game-high 31 points on 11-13 from the field, 4-5 from distance. Luquon Choice chipped in 20 in the win. LMU shot 67.7 % from the field to go along with 65% from three. The Railsplitters also hit 19 of 26 free throws.

Yeargin came out blistering hot for the Lions as he connected on three-straight shots from behind the arc and MHU raced out to an early 15-10 lead just four minutes into the contest. The Lions extended their lead to 25-18 with 11:30 left in the first half after a layup from Jalen Witherspoon. Mars Hill built its biggest lead of the half at 29-20, but a 12-0 spurt in less than three minutes by the Railsplitters poised the guests to a three-point lead at 32-29 with eight minutes left to play. Patrick Monroe then put on a clinic from downtown as he connected on a trio of triples to go along with a baseline jumper to keep the Lions in the game. LMU finished the half on an 8-0 run to lead at the half 55-47.

The Railsplitters opened the second half with the first five points and built a 60-47 lead a minute into the frame. MHU attempted to claw its way back into the contest with an 8-2 run that closed the gap to 62-55 with 17:17 remaining. That would be as close as the Lions would get as a barrage of threes from LMU ballooned its lead to 81-63 with 12:35 left to play. Lincoln Memorial continued to dominate as it outscored Mars Hill 28-10 over the next eight minutes to build an insurmountable 103-72 lead.

Mars Hill will return to action on Saturday, January 9 as they travel to Hartsville, S.C. to take on Coker. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.