LMU Rallies to defeat Lions

MARS HILL, NC-- Lincoln Memorial fought back from a 19-point deficit to stun Mars Hill 74-69 Wednesday night at Stanford Arena. LMU improves to 11-10 on the season, 6-7 in SAC play, while Mars Hill falls to 11-11 overall, 4-9 in SAC play.

After falling behind 45-26 late in the first half, the Railsplitters caught fire. LMU shot 61.3 percent from the field (19-of-31) in the second half to key the comeback victory. The Railsplitters were paced by 6'5 center Lauren Cochran, who scored a game-high 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting, and SAC-leading scorer Dayshalee Salaman, who added 22 points. Danielle Tucker notched her third double-double of the season with 14 points to go along with 11 rebounds for Mars Hill. Kristen Metcalf led all Lion scorers with 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including 4-of-7 from long range.

A 45-28 halftime Lion lead was quickly wiped out with an early second half run by LMU, which opened the second half on a 24-6 run to take 52-51 lead with 12:44 to play. Salaman and Cochran keyed the run, with Salaman scoring 12 points on several floaters and a pair of threes, and Cochran providing the inside punch with six points in the paint. Cochran's work inside helped the Railsplitters hold a 40-24 edge in points in the paint. The two teams would trade the lead several times of the next eight minutes of play, with Mars Hill leading by as much as seven during the stretch.

With the Lions nursing a 65-62 lead with 4:12 to play, LMU ripped off a 6-0 run and never trailed the rest of the way. Cochran started the run with a pair of free throws and a lay up to give the Railsplitters the lead, and Salaman capped the run with a steal and layup. The Lions twice cut the lead to one point in the final minutes, but a pair of free throws by Salaman with six seconds left provided the final margin and put the game out of reach.

The Lions came out firing on all cylinders, with Metcalf hitting a pair of triples in the opening minutes to help stake Mars Hill to an early 10-7 lead. LMU would battle back to turn the contest into a back-and-forth battle in the opening minutes. The game appeared to be tilting in favor of Lincoln Memorial after a pair of Cochran free throws gave the Railsplitters a 17-14 lead with 12:32 to play. From that point n however, the half belonged to Mars Hill. Lions outscored the Railsplitters 31-11 the rest of the half.

A 13-2 run began to swing the tide in favor of the Lions. Taylor Deal scored seven points during the run on four free throws and a step-back three. The run was capped by a long cross-court feed from Tyler Carlson to Metcalf, who buried a jumper from the short corner to make the score 27-19 with 7:32 to play.

A Cochran free throw temporarily stopped the bleeding for LMU, but Mars Hill went right back to work with a 9-0 run. Simon knocked down a jumper from the elbow, and Metcalf followed with her last of four first half treys. Those points would be the last of a big first half for the junior guard, who scored 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting before the break. A post move by Tucker and a long pass from Carlson to Simon gave the Lions a 36-20 lead. Mars Hill would keep up the pressure to take a 45-28 lead into the half. The Lions shot 47.2 percent from the field (17-of-36) in the half and 41.3 percent overall (26-of-63).

Mars Hill will be in action again Saturday afternoon when they travel to Brevard College for a conference matchup with the Tornados. Tip-off is set of 2 p.m.