MARS HILL, NC -- The eighth-ranked Railsplitters outscored the Lions 53-28 in the second half in rout to their dominant 91-66 victory on Wednesday evening at Mars Hill College. LMU extends their record to 11-2 in the South Atlantic Conference and 21-2 on the season. They remain within one of Anderson University for the top spot in the SAC.

Desmond Johnson led the Railsplitters with 19 points on 7-8 shooting from the field. Johnson grabbed three rebounds and dished out four assists. Vincent Bailey also went 7-8 in his 17 points, eight rebound performance. Brandon Armstrong led the backcourt with 17 points on 3-5 shooting from behind the arc. He grabbed six rebounds and handed out four assists. Wally Jones added 11 points off the bench. Cam Carden hit two three-pointers and finished with a team-high eight assists.

Sammy Emile led the Lions with 22 points. He was aided by Khouriachi Thiam's 12 points on 6-8 shooting from the field.
The Lions hit two three-pointers and scored twice more to open the game with a 10-0 lead, forcing the Railsplitters to burn an early timeout. Mars Hill continued to establish the early advantage as Cody King's jumper with 15:47 in the half put the Lions on top 12-4.
For the ensuing six minutes, the Lions held the lead until Cam Carden's three-pointer tied the game at 24-24 with 9:10 left in the half. Jake Troyli put the Railsplitters on top 26-25 with eight minutes on the clock. Lincoln Memorial led by as many as four in the closing minutes of the first stanza, yet, a layup by Noble Cunningham tied the game at 38-38 heading into the break.

The Railsplitters wasted little time establishing their dominance in the second half as they opened up with a 10-0 run to jump on top 48-38 with 17:48 remaining. Petar Kostic cut the score to 52-45 with a three-pointer at the 15:05 mark. That was the closest the Lions would get for the remainder of the game as the Railsplitters would close the final ten minutes on a 31-16 run to take a 91-66 win.

The Railsplitters shot 56.5 percent in the contest, 65.6 percent in the second half. They limited the Lions to 41 percent from the field and 29.4 percent in the second half.

LMU will hit the road on Saturday, February 11th for a tough South Atlantic Conference battle with the Wolves of Newberry College. That game is scheduled to tip at 4 p.m. in Newberry, South Carolina.