MEMPHIS-The Christian Brothers University Bucs exploded to a 27-7 lead in the first nine minutes and never trailed as they defeated No. 3/8 Lincoln Memorial 81-75, marking the highest-ranked team CBU has ever beaten.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
• The Bucs (3-0) jumped out to a 15-3 lead in the first four minutes, making six of their first seven shots including three triples, the last by Brad Miller (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder HS) to give them a 15-3 lead with 16:21 remaining in the half.
• CBU would extend its lead to 27-7, their largest of the game, on a Nick Deifel (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills HS) layup with 11:14 remaining in the half.
• The Railsplitters (1-2) stormed back into the game with a 20-2 run to close within 29-27 on a Cornelius Taylor layup with 2:38 remaining in the half.
• Back-to-back triples by Adam Dieball (Cincinnati, Ohio/Lakota East HS) and Joe Laravie (Kettering, Ohio/Alter HS) rebuilt the Bucs' lead to 35-27.
• LMU came within a point as Alex Dahling capped a 10-2 run with a triple with 15:39 remaining.
• CBU answered with six straight, capped by two Luke Rudy (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills HS) layups, to take a 47-40 edge with 13:39 remaining.
• After a Taylor triple with 10:31 remaining cut the lead to 52-49, another six-point run extended the Bucs' advantage to 58-49.
• After the Bucs' lead swelled to 75-65 on a Deifel layup with 2:16 remaining, LMU used a quick 8-2 burst to close within 77-73 on a pair of free throws with 55 seconds remaining, but the Bucs held them to two points afterwards, holding on despite shooting just 4-of-8 at the free throw line in the final minute.

KEY STATS:
• Laravie led all scorers with 24 points, shooting 10-of-16 including 2-of-5 from three-point range. He also added four rebounds and two assists.
• Dieball scored 19 with 10 assists and five rebounds in 38 minutes. He finished 5-of-9 from the field, including 4-of-6 from three-point range.
• Deifel scored a career-best 17 in 26 minutes off the bench, adding five rebounds, two steals and two assists. He shot 5-of-6, making all seven free throws.
• The Bucs shot 54.9 percent (28-of-51) for the game, including 40 percent (8-of-20) from beyond the arc. LMU finished 45.0 percent (27-of-60) overall but just 32.1 percent (9-of-28) from deep.
• Each team grabbed 31 rebounds, with LMU holding an 8-4 advantage in offensive boards. The Railsplitters committed 17 turnovers to CBU's 15.

NOTABLE:
• LMU entered the game No. 3 in the NABC poll and No. 8 in the D2SIDA poll. Saturday's win marks the highest-ranked team in the NABC poll that the Bucs have ever beaten.
• Previously, the highest-ranked team CBU had beaten was a 61-55 win Dec. 7, 2010 at No. 5 Montevallo.
• The Bucs' highest-ranked win at home was a 55-48 win over No. 7 Alabama Huntsville Feb. 14, 2013.

HEAD COACH MIKE NIENABER'S THOUGHTS:
On the hot start of the game:
 "When you have a start like we did and you know a team like that is going to come back at you, letting it slip away the way we did, but being able to regroup, gain our poise, and keep doing what we needed to do was what got us there. I don't think they were totally ready for what we do initially. The coaches did everything they needed to get them ready, but at times the kids don't buy in to what happens. Once they realized, you could see their energy go through the roof. They are a great defensive team. They are always one of the best defensive teams in the country. They made us work for everything we got."

On Nick Deifel (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills HS):
"He is such a competitor. I think he helped answer some of the high energy that they brought. He was on demand."

On the connection between Adam Dieball (Cincinnati, Ohio/Lakota East HS) and Joe Laravie (Kettering, Ohio/Alter HS):
"You have a center that has ben playing with someone for three or four years, and they are comfortable. It's like a quarterback in football that is comfortable throwing that pass to a receiver when it looks like he isn't open, but he throws it because he believes in the receiver. Joe not only goes and gets it, he finishes. Joe made some tough shots."

On Joe Laravie (Kettering, Ohio/Alter HS):
"Joe not only goes and gets it, he finishes. Joe made some tough, big shots. He is a great player. He is a special player."

On the team's poor free throw shooting:
"Our free throw percentage, in general, is going to get us if we don't figure it out. It has been something that has haunted us over the past couple of years. I've got 3 point shooters that once they get to the free throw line, something comes unraveled. You think that guys that are shooting threes the way they do they should be able to step to the line and shoot 80, 90 percent. We have consistently not. It is so different than any other shot in basketball, and it is so mental. It could've made the game a whole lot less stressful if we would've knocked them down coming down the stretch." 

On upcoming games:
"Lane is going to come in and battle. It won't be an easy game. We can't have a mental letdown. Most people would say that we are a better team than Lane, but Lane is dangerous. They've been one of the top teams in their conference for the past few years. They are a very competitive team."

"Harding is always tough. They will never be easy."

On learning from the game:
"This will be a good game to learn from. It will be a good film to watch, talk about things we aren't doing, and getting better with our execution. They really pushed us to the limit with their defense."

WHAT'S NEXT:
The Bucs return to action Tuesday night at 7 p.m. as they host Lane.