HARROGATE, Tenn. -- Senior Keenan Peterson (College Park, Ga.) racked up 16 points and a game-high 11 rebounds to lead the fifth-ranked Railsplitters (24-1, 18-1 SAC) to a hard-fought 76-70 win over the Wingate Bulldogs (15-11, 12-8 SAC) on Saturday in the Tex Turner Arena regular season finale.
 
The Railsplitters only trailed for 2:19 total in Saturday's contest, but it was anything but easy for the home team to create any significant separation as the Bulldogs answered nearly every one of LMU's spurts.
 
Lincoln Memorial buried three three-pointers right out of the gate and opened up an 11-4 lead on a jumper by Lorenza Ross (Savannah, Ga.) at 14:44, but the Bulldogs scored four straight points to cut it back to 11-8 just a minute later.
 
The Railsplitters bulged the lead to 24-14 by the 8:39 mark after back-to-back buckets by Peterson and Dorian Pinson (Greenville, S.C.), but the Bulldogs scored 11 of the next 13 points over the next two minutes to cut the deficit to 26-25 with 6:31 left in the period.
 
The home team never surrendered the lead before the half ended, building it back to 35-30 on a layup by Curtis Webb (Spartanburg, S.C.) with just over a minute left. Anthanee Doyle offset that basket with a bucket on the Bulldogs' end to cut LMU's halftime cushion to 35-32.
 
The Railsplitters hit six of their first eight shots of the second half, extending the lead back to 48-38 following a three-point play from Peterson at 14:11. Two straight three-point plays from Ryan Daye and Zeriq Lolar closed the gap back to 49-44 with just over 12 minutes left, but Luquon Choice (Laurens, S.C.) drained back-to-back triples to give LMU its largest lead of the game at 57-44.
 
A three from Ross at 6:54 put the Railsplitters in front 65-50 and capped a 16-6 spurt. Lincoln Memorial was able to make that lead hold up, but not without some late drama. Following Ross's triple, the Bulldogs went on a 10-2 run, paced almost entirely by Xavier Griffin's eight points, to trim the deficit to 67-60 with 3:47 to play. A Peterson layup and a three-point play from Webb pushed LMU back out to a 12-point edge, but Wingate scored eight of the next 10 points to make it a six-point game with 35 seconds left.
 
It got even tighter seconds later as Daye scored again with 17 ticks remaining and cut the LMU lead to 75-70. The Bulldogs would not score another point, though, as Peterson went 1-for-2 at the charity stripe to complete the scoring.
 
Peterson posted his second straight double-double and sixth of the season, compiling 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting and leading all players with 11 rebounds. Choice went 5-for-6 from the field and 4-for-5 from three to score 15 points to go alongside five assists. Ross scored 11 points and hauled in four rebounds in 37 minutes of work. Pinson was ultra-efficient in 18 minutes off the bench, scoring 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
 
The Railsplitters finished shooting 49.2 percent (29-for-59) from the field, 44.4 percent (8-for-18) from three and 50 percent (10-for-20) at the free throw line.
 
LMU narrowly edged the Bulldogs in rebounds 37-36. It was a battle on the interior all evening as 76 of the 146 points scored were earned inside the paint.
 
Wingate finished shooting 41.5 percent (27-for-65) despite posting a dismal 15.8 percent clip (3-for-19) from three-point range. The Bulldogs were nearly perfect at the line, making 13 of their 15 free throws.
 
Xavier Griffin led all players with 17 points, while Daye posted 14 points on a 6-for-14 clip. Keith Griffin scored 11 points and matched the team-lead with six rebounds. Zeriq Lolar scored 11 points in 24 minutes off the bench.
 
The Railsplitters improved to 15-9 all-time against the Bulldogs, winning for the 13th time in the past 15 meetings.
 
Prior to Saturday's contest, Lincoln Memorial celebrated Senior Day in coordination with the final home game of the regular season. Peterson, Ross and C.J. Wakely (Alachua, Fla.) were honored with a ceremony in front of the Tex Turner Arena faithful. That trio - which has accounted for four different SAC championships thus far - improved to 103-16 in their four-year tenure with the Railsplitters after Saturday's victory. 
 
With only one day of preparation and recovery, the Railsplitters hit the road to visit the Brevard Tornados on Monday for a 7:10 p.m. tip. That contest will be broadcast regionally on WYMA My40 throughout western North Carolina and upstate South Carolina.