Men's Basketball Loses at Lincoln Memorial

HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lions lost a South Atlantic Conference men's basketball contest on the road at Lincoln Memorial 93-64 Wednesday night at Tex Turner Arena. Mars Hill fell to 3-10 overall and 1-6 in the league. The Railsplitters improved to 10-3 on the season, 5-2 in the SAC.

Valentin Bauer and Bennett Wilson led the Lions scoring 16 and 12 points in the contest, respectively. The Lions hit only 38.6% (27-70) of their field goals and 27.8% (5-18) of their three-point attempts.

Chris Perry led all scorers with 23 points and added seven rebounds to lead the Railsplitters. Dorian Pinson contributed a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. LMU won the battle of the boards, 43-37. LMU connected on 50.8% (30-59) of their shots from the floor, 39.3% (11-28) of their three-point attempts and 66.7% (22-33) of their shots at the charity stripe.

The first five minutes of the game were closely played. Mars Hill trailed by only six points (14-8) with 14:26 left in the first period after Makyle Wilkerson hit a jumper. LMU then went on a 17-5 run to take an 18-point lead (31-13) after Luquon Choice hit a shot from three-point range. The Railsplitters maintained a double-digit lead the remainder of the first frame and led by as many as 24 points (54-30) with 2:02 left in the first half after Nicksen Blanc scored inside. LMU enjoyed a 57-37 lead at the intermission.

The Lions started the second half on a 7-3 run to cut the deficit to 16 points (60-44) with 17:40 left in the game after Wilson hit a jumper. That was as close as the Lions would get down the stretch. LMU built a 33-point lead, outscoring MHU 29-12 over the next 15 minutes of play to take their largest lead of 33 points (89-56) with 2:27 left in regulation when Kamaran Calhoun scored inside. LMU ended the contest with a 93-64 victory.

Mars Hill will host SAC opponent Coker on Saturday, January 7, in Stanford Arena. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.