HARROGATE -- In a battle for first place in the South Atlantic Conference, D'Mario Curry recorded a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Lincoln Memorial University men's basketball team to a thrilling 65-62 win over visiting Tusculum on Wednesday night at Tex Turner Arena.
LMU (17-4, 7-3 SAC) sweeps the season series over the Pioneers (12-9, 6-4 SAC), while halting TC's four-game winning streak.
Tusculum's Kyle Moore led all scorers with 24 points, to go along with seven assists. Josh Bennett added 16 points, while Justin Steigerwald finished with six assists and a career-high 10 boards in the loss.
LMU was led in scoring by Stuart Miller as he accounted for 15 points and four assists.
In the first half, the contest looked to be heading towards a rout as the Railsplitters raced out to a 31-14 advantage with 5:23 remaining in the first half.
But despite having two of their starters with three fouls each, the Pioneers mounted a furious rally. Tusculum erased the 17-point deficit utilizing a 22-4 run over a span 4:15 to lead 36-35, following a steal and a lay-up by Steigerwald with 1:08 left before halftime. TC would add a Rob Troutman jumper to carry a 38-35 lead into the locker room.
In the second half, the game would be a see-saw affair that saw four ties and seven lead changes before LMU won it.
Tusculum returns to action Saturday at Catawba.
TUSCULUM (12-9, 6-4 SAC): Moore 7-17 7-7 24; Bennett 7-14 2-2 16; Troutman 3-10 0-0 7; Klempin 2-2 2-5 6; Steigerwald 2-3 0-0 5; Boone 1-5 0-0 2; Taylor 1-4 0-0 2; Miller 0-0 0-0 0; Grey 0-0 0-0 0; Gagel 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-56 11-14 62.
LINCOLN MEMORIAL (17-4, 7-3 SAC): Miller 3-7 7-8 15; Curry 6-8 2-5 14; Johnson 4-5 2-7 10; Armstrong 2-7 4-6 9; O'Brien 2-6 4-4 8; Jones 2-5 0-0 5; Carden 0-1 2-2 2; Allen 0-0 1-2 1; Erland 0-3 1-2 1; Craig 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 19-44 23-36 65.
Halftime: Tusculum 38, LMU 35
3-point goals--TC 5-17 (Moore 3-10; Steigerwald 1-1; Troutman 1-3; Boone 0-3), LMU 4-16 (Miller 2-5; Armstrong 1-4; Jones 1-3; O'Brien 0-2; Carden 0-1; Erland 0-1). Rebounds--TC 30 (Steigerwald 10), LMU 38 (Curry 13). Assists--TC 18 (Moore 7), LMU 11 (Miller 4). Total fouls--TC 26, LMU 19. Technical fouls--TC-Team, LMU-None.
