HARROGATE, Tenn. -- The No. 1 nationally-ranked Lincoln Memorial men's basketball team will look to go where it's never gone before on Tuesday night when the Railsplitters (31-2) throw down against the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears (21-9) in the championship game of the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional at 7 p.m. inside of Tex Turner Arena. The winner of that Sweet 16 showdown advances to Frisco, Texas and Dr. Pepper Arena to play in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.
 
After seeing their season end in the second round of the NCAA Tournament for four straight years, the Railsplitters finally pushed past the second-round road block on Sunday night, absolutely barnstorming the Queens Royals in a 95-67 win. That win not only ended a streak of four consecutive second-round exits and sent the Railsplitters to the Sweet 16 for the first time ever, but it extended Lincoln Memorial's winning streak to 21 games and reset the program and South Atlantic Conference record for single-season wins. The Railsplitters now claim the four winningest seasons in SAC history.
 
Big runs have been key to the Railsplitters' success this season and are the reason Lincoln Memorial leads the country in scoring margin, winning by an average of 20.1 points per game. But there have been stretches in which the Railsplitters have played almost transcendent basketball. The last 25 minutes of that win over Queens could be classified as just that, as Lincoln Memorial authored arguably the most memorable stretch of basketball in program history. The Railsplitters trailed by a single point late in the first half, but closed on a 20-7 run to take a 12-point lead into the break before kicking off the second half with a 35-12 spurt to extend the cushion to 31 points with eight and a half minutes to go.
 
Gerel Simmons (Accokeek, Md.), Luquon Choice (Laurens, S.C.) and Jalen Steele (Knoxville, Tenn.) combined for 63 points to power the Railsplitters' attack. Simmons had a game-high 25 points with five rebounds and four assists, Choice produced 22 points on 5-for-9 shooting from deep, and Steele contributed 16 points with three rebounds.
 
The seventh-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne Bears defeated two-seeded King 83-79 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament and then advanced to the Southeast Regional title game with a 76-69 win over three-seeded Wingate on Sunday to keep their storybook season alive. Under the direction of first-year head coach Ryan Odom, the Bears have engineered one of the more remarkable year-to-year turnarounds in recent memory. Last season, Lenoir-Rhyne finished with an 8-18 record and didn't even qualify for the SAC tournament. Now, the Bears are preparing for the program's first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 with almost the same exact roster as last season.
 
The only offseason addition the Bears made to their roster was a significant one to say the least, though, as Old Dominion transfer Keenan Palmore has carried Lenoir-Rhyne from the depths of the SAC standings to the Sweet 16. Palmore was christened as both the South Atlantic Conference and CCA Southeast Region Player of the Year after leading the league in all three major statistical categories with 21.9 points, 9.2 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game while shooting 53.3 percent from the floor. The impact he's made was on full display in L-R's second-round win over Wingate, as Palmore recorded 20 points and eight rebounds in the second half alone to power the victory.
 
Palmore is flanked by dead-eye shooters Will Perry and Reed Lucas as well as a formidable post presence in senior Roby Noyes. Perry is scoring 17.7 points per game on 43.8 percent shooting from three, while Lucas is contributing 12.4 points per game with a 43.7 percent mark from deep. Noyes, meanwhile, is averaging a near double-double with 10.6 points and 7.9 rebounds per game while shooting 65.8 percent from the field. Junior JacQues Chambers has also emerged in the NCAA Tournament, averaging 13 points per game over the Bears' two games.
 
The Railsplitters went 22-0 in SAC play during the regular season, but Lenoir-Rhyne provided far and away the two stiffest challenges to Lincoln Memorial's bid for a perfect conference mark. In the first meeting on December 2 in Hickory, N.C., Lincoln Memorial and Lenoir-Rhyne played the longest game in program history with a four-overtime thriller. The Railsplitters ultimately prevailed 123-122 in that contest on a last-second bucket by Simmons. In the second meeting at Tex Turner Arena on January 30, Lincoln Memorial came away with an 86-75 victory despite trailing 39-21 with less than six minutes left in the first half.
 
The Railsplitters have won 12 straight games against Lenoir-Rhyne, with their last loss in the series coming in February, 2010.
 
The winner of the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional advances to the Elite Eight, which is being held at Dr. Pepper Arena in Frisco, Texas March 23-26. The Railsplitters will be looking to make more history by moving on to the Elite Eight for the first time in program history. Either Lincoln Memorial or Lenoir-Rhyne will open the Elite Eight against the winner of the South Regional championship between Tarleton State and Angelo State next Wednesday in the Lonestar State.
 
Lincoln Memorial and Lenoir-Rhyne are set to get underway at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night. The gates open at 6 p.m., with general admission tickets available for $5.
 
Live stats and video links are available via www.LMURailsplitters.com.