February 11, 2009
 HARROGATE, Tenn. - Lincoln Memorial broke Mars Hill's three-game winning streak with an 87-77 victory Wednesday night inside Tex Turner Arena. The Railsplitters improved to 13-10 overall, 7-5 in the SAC. The Lions dropped to 14-8 overall, 5-7 in the SAC.
Mars Hill raced out to an 8-0 lead in the first 1:28 of the game, capped by a three-pointer by P.J. Gore (North Myrtle Beach, S.C.). Lincoln Memorial responded and grabbed its first lead of the game, 10-8, off a trey from Desmond Johnson (Lynch, Ky.) at the 14:45 mark.
Both teams traded buckets for much of the rest of the half. The Lions took a 35-30 advantage off a shot from behind the arc by Danny Sanders (Shelby, N.C.) and led 35-33 at halftime.
The Railsplitters began to separate from Mars Hill six minutes into the second half. With the game tied 44-all, Lincoln Memorial went on a 27-6 run, highlighted by a D'Mario Curry (Detroit, Mich.) fastbreak dunk. Two free throws by Justin Allen (Lithonia, Ga.) with 6:11 left in the game gave the Railsplitters their largest lead of the game, 71-50.
Mars Hill fought back with a 23-10 run over the next 5:16 of the game. Akeene Coakley (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.), Stoney Polite (Morganton, N.C.), and Gore combined for 20 of the points during the streak. A jumper by Polite with 55 seconds left in the game cut the deficit to single digits, 81-73. Two Polite free throws with 31 seconds left made the score 83-77 in favor of Lincoln Memorial, but the Lions would get no closer.
Johnson and Curry each posted double-doubles for the Railsplitters. Johnson had 28 points and 17 rebounds. Curry had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Brandon Armstrong (Decatur, Ga.) recorded 17 points and nine rebounds. Stuart Miller (Harrogate, Tenn.) had 13 points.
Sanders posted 20 points and six rebounds for Mars Hill. Polite poured in 17 points. Gore finished with 16 points and six rebounds.
Mars Hill will host Catawba on Saturday inside Stanford Arena. Tip-time is set for 4 p.m.
Boxscore...
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