HARROGATE, TENN. — Despite five Cavaliers in double-digit scoring and Patrick Shelley tallying a career-high 17 points, Lincoln Memorial's 42 points in the paint was too tough to overcome. The Railsplitters took the 92-79 triumph over the Cavaliers in Tex Turner Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 22.

 

Me'Kell Burries led an aggressive Lincoln Memorial offense with a career-high 21 points highlighted by eight three-pointers. His first three-pointer came at the 16:29 mark of the first half, while teammate Jordan Guest tagged on in in the scoring frenzy from the arc. Burries and Guest made up 27 of the first 29 points for the 'Splitters, but UVA Wise kept them within reach after a three-ball from Luke Lawson put the score at 29-25. By the end of the half, Lincoln Memorial had pushed their lead to nine, 51-42.

At the start of the second half, Shelley led action off with a three-pointer to keep the Railsplitters within six. But Burries couldn't miss — and buried another three-pointer to push their lead back out to nine. From there, the hosts went on a 14-8 run. The Cavaliers were paced by Zion Fruster and Shelley under the bucket to get within 10, but Lincoln Memorial responded with a dunk from Jordan Walters and never looked back. The Railsplitters had pushed the lead to as much as 21 with 2:47 left to go and eventually took the 13-point victory.

Shelley's career-high 17 points was accompanied by a 16 point performance from Lawson and a 15 point day from Bradley Dean. Dean also added a team-high eight rebounds to his stat line.

The Cavaliers struggled from the field, going 27-of-68 (39.7-percent). Lincoln Memorial hit over 50-percent of their shots from the field and went 14-31 (45.2-percent) from three-point range. Lincoln Memorial was a force under the bucket, outrebounding the Cavaliers 47-31 and scoring 42 in the paint versus UVA Wise's 18.

Up next, UVA Wise heads back home for Senior Day in the David J. Prior Convocation Center against Lenoir-Rhyne to finish off the regular season. Tipoff is slated for 4 PM.