BRAMPTON, Ontario — The Lincoln Memorial University men’s basketball team completed its four-game Canadian trip in convincing fashion on Monday by running past the Sheridan College Bruins, 93-66.

Once again, it was redshirt junior Cornelius Taylor leading the way for the young Railsplitters with a game-high 22 points. Twelve of Taylor’s 22 points came on four 3-pointers, however, more importantly he provided veteran leadership on the floor for Josh Schertz’s young roster.

With the win, LMU finished the trip with a 4-0 record, recording two blowouts against University of Windsor and Sheridan, pulling out a two-point win against University of Western Ontario and winning an abbreviated game against Fanshawe College in convincing fashion.

The four-day trip to Canada allowed Schertz and his staff to expose his freshman-heavy roster to actual game conditions. The 2018-19 Railsplitter roster currently consists of 10 true freshmen. Additionally, there are four sophomores (two are redshirts) and two transfer juniors. Getting this team to come together was a major goal of the trip.

“It was a good trip and a great experience for our guys,” commented Schertz after the win. “They got to experience a different culture and how to travel. Playing the four games, we got a lot of information. We did some good things on this trip and there were many holes that were exposed. There are a lot of areas of growth. Now we’ll get back, take a week off and try to fix those holes”

Veterans Taylor, Alex Dahling and Kamaran Calhoun were big contributors throughout the four-game swing and Monday was no exception. Dahling found the range from beyond the three-point arc by hitting five from long range and contributed two rebounds. Calhoun scrapped for 13 points and was steady defensively. Steven Perriere was again strong on the boards, pulling down 12 rebounds and contributing nine points.

Anthony Brown (seven points/six rebounds), Cameron Henry (seven points/five rebounds) and Julius Brown (two points/four rebounds/three steals) made key contributions among the newcomers.

“The whole point of the trip was to expedite the whole learning curve as we head into November 9 and opening day,” Schertz pointed out. “I think these four games plus the 10 practices we had leading up to it have helped do that.”

With so many new faces in the lineup, did Schertz see anything unexpected?

“No, not really,” he said. “We are a little further behind on some things than I had hoped, but the guys competed hard and we defended a little better than I thought we would. Nobody scored above 66 points against us.

“We played some teams that played at a very fast pace. I thought today was our best game as far as continuity and moving the ball, generating open shots and today we played more intelligent offensively as well.”

The team will now get back into the classroom before returning to the Tex Turner Arena floor in preparation for the season opener.