GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — Nate Mims recorded 18 points, while Jayden Spearman buried five 3-pointers on his 15 markers to lead Lincoln Memorial to a 65-58 South Atlantic Conference win over Tusculum Wednesday night at Pioneer Arena.
The Railsplitters (14-7, 10-5 SAC) complete the season-sweep over the Pioneers (8-13, 4-11 SAC) as LMU buried 12 three-pointers on the evening including eight in the first half as the Splitters led by as many as 18 in the second half before Tusculum mounted a rally late in the contest.
Tusculum junior TJ Printup tallied 11 points while posting career-highs with 14 rebounds and seven assists. Six of his boards came on the offensive glass while he also posted a pair of blocked shots.
TU junior Amari Allen led the Pioneers in scoring with his 16 points, while also accounting for eight rebounds and five assists. Graduate student Bryce Jackson added 14 points, while freshman Jordan Attia had six points and a season-best six boards for Tusculum.
LMU also got 10 points from Armon Jarrard, while Ashton Pennamon had nine points, six assists and a game-high four steals. Walter Campbell led all players with his dozen rebounds.
The Railsplitters went on a 10-0 run to take a 22-9 lead in the first half as Spearman connected on a pair of triples during the spurt.
With LMU ahead 32-17 with 4:20 left in the first half, Allen accounted for an 8-0 run which included two 3-pointers as Tusculum trimmed the gap to 32-25 at halftime.
The Splitters scored the first five points of the second half before Tusculum got an Allen jumper and a Jackson dunk as TU trailed 37-29 with 16:40 left in the contest.
LMU erupted for a 15-5 run and took its largest lead of the night at 52-34 with 11:0 to go.
Tusculum answered with a 13-4 spurt capped by a Wesley Johnson layup as TU trailed by single digits at 56-47 with five minutes remaining.
LMU answered every bucket by the Pioneers over the next two-and-half minutes including a Spearman three-pointer to give the visitors a 63-52 lead with 2:42 on the clock.
Tusculum made one final charge scoring six in a row a pair of baskets by Allen to cut the score to 63-58 with 11.1 seconds remaining. LMU, who struggled at the foul line in the second half going 5-of-11, did make two of its final four shots at the stripe, while Tusculum came up empty on its last two possessions as the Railsplitters held on for the win.
Lincoln Memorial finished the game shooting 41 percent from the floor including 12-of-33 from three-point territory. Tusculum out-rebounded the Railsplitters by a 43-34 margin including 17-10 on the offensive glass. But the Pioneers shot 24-of-65 from the field (37%) including 5-of-22 from three-point land.
LMU forced Tusculum into 13 turnovers thanks to 11 steals. Meanwhile, the Railsplitters finished the night with 17 assists on its 23 made field goals.
The Pioneers will be on the road on Saturday to face the Catawba Indians for a 4 p.m. contest in Salisbury, North Carolina. Tusculum defeated Catawba 76-75 in December in the season’s first meeting.
