HARROGATE, Tenn. – The No. 1 ranked and top-seeded Railsplitters survived an upset scare to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 90-78 victory over King in the Southeast Regional quarterfinals on Saturday night at Tex Turner Arena.
 
Lincoln Memorial (31-1) is on to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the seventh consecutive season. The Railsplitters, who will face either Carson-Newman or Clayton State at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday night for the right to play in the Southeast Regional championship game, also extended their winning streak to 20 games and pushed their home winning streak to 24. It marks the fourth winning streak of at least 20 games under head coach Josh Schertz.
 
King (19-11), who lost by 34 points to Lincoln Memorial in the second game of the season back on November 11, didn't make it easy on the two-time defending region champions, though. The Tornado shot 45 percent for the game, outrebounded the Railsplitters, and led by as many as nine points in the first half. King led outright for over 13 minutes before ultimately succumbing in the second half.
 
"We won so I guess that would be the silver lining in everything," Schertz said. "I saw a lot of things I like in basketball – a team just laying it on the line, competing their brains out, fighting, scratching and clawing, playing with unbelievable effort, emotion and toughness. I didn't see that with my own team, but I saw that with King.
 
"We have to be a lot better otherwise our season is going to be over in short order."
 
Lincoln Memorial was carried to victory almost entirely by a dominant seven-minute stretch in the second half. While nursing a slim lead that King cut to 60-59 with 13:30 left to play, the Railsplitters held the Tornado scoreless until the 6:18 mark. Over that span, Lincoln Memorial scored 18 unanswered points to pull ahead 78-59.
 
"That was the only stretch of the game that we had the energy, activity and effort necessary to guard," Schertz said. "The rest of the game we were kind of going through the motions."
 
After pulling ahead by 19, King outscored the Railsplitters 19-12 over the final six and a half minutes to cut the final margin to 90-78. Lincoln Memorial moves to 69-28 all-time against the Tornado with the victory, and the Railsplitters topped their in-state rival for the 13th time in the past 14 meetings.  
 
Trevon Shaw and Emanuel Terry powered the Railsplitters offensively, combining for 45 of the team's 90 points, including 25 of LMU's 42 second-half points. Shaw went 9-for-18 from the field to score 24, while Terry dropped 21 points and a team-leading 15 rebounds. Cornelius Taylor scored 14 points but finished 5-for-17 from the field, while Dorian Pinson scored 12 points in 27 foul-plagued minutes. Josh Odem chipped in 11 points and a game-high five assists.
 
Conference Carolinas Player of the Year Jordan Floyd led King in the near upset with a game-high 28 points aided by a 12-for-13 effort at the free-throw line. Mike Salomon contributed 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting, while Je'Don Young pitched in 13 points despite a 5-for-17 shooting line. Mack Owens was limited to four points but did grab a game-high 16 rebounds.
 
The Tornado dominated the first half, leading outright for nearly 13 minutes while shooting 55 percent from the floor and hitting seven three-pointers. King led by as many as nine points at 40-31 with 5:00 left. The Railsplitters finally settled in after falling behind by nine and turned the tide with a 10-0 spurt, taking the lead just two minutes later on a three-pointer from Taylor.
 
After King briefly re-took the lead, the Railsplitters grabbed its largest lead of the half at 48-43 on a thunderous alley-oop dunk from Terry. However, Salomon buried a three-pointer on the other end and Floyd hit a tough runner just before time expired to send the two teams into the half tied at 48-48.
 
The Tornado started 1-for-7 in the second half but the Railsplitters were unable to build a lead larger than four points initially until that 18-0 run blew the game open. After allowing over 50 percent shooting in the first half, the Railsplitters held King to a 33.3 percent mark in the second half, including a 2-for-10 mark from three.
 
"I'm disappointed in our effort and competitiveness tonight, but at the end of the day you win or you go home at this stage in the postseason," Schertz said. "We are excited to have the opportunity to play tomorrow. We will have to be a lot better on both ends of the floor in terms of our effort, our toughness and our togetherness."
 
The Railsplitters will face either Carson-Newman or Clayton State on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. inside of Tex Turner Arena. The winner of that contest will move on to the regional championship game, which will decide who heads to Sioux Falls, S.D. for the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.
 
Quick Hits:
 
- King's bench outscored the Railsplitters' second unit 36-8. Floyd accounted for 28 of the Tornado's 36 bench points. Kamaran Calhoun scored seven points in 22 minutes off the bench to lead the Railsplitters in that department.
 
- The Railsplitters forced King into 20 turnovers, including 11 in the second half. Lincoln Memorial scored 22 points off of those miscues.
 
- The Railsplitters moved to 14-7 all-time in NCAA Tournament play with the victory. Lincoln Memorial is now 10-2 in the postseason tournament over the past three seasons.