CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The 15th-ranked and second-seeded Railsplitters (28-5) face the No. 6 and top-seeded Queens Royals (30-3) in the championship game of the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional at 7 p.m. on Tuesday inside the Levine Center. The winner of that contest advances to the Elite Eight, which is being held in Sioux Falls, S.D. March 22-25.
 
Lincoln Memorial – looking to win its second consecutive Southeast Region title – and Queens are no strangers to one another, as Tuesday marks this season's fourth meeting. The previous three games have been absolute classics, as the total point spread over 125 minutes of basketball is three points.
 
The Royals have won two of the three meetings, including the most recent one, as Queens defeated the Railsplitters in the South Atlantic Conference Championship title game 75-72 to earn the right to host the Southeast Regional.
 
In that contest, Lincoln Memorial limited Queens to 41.7 percent shooting and a 1-for-15 mark from three-point range, but the Royals accounted for a 13-point difference at the free-throw line. Daniel Camps provided the fuel for Queens' victory, scoring a game-high 29 points in just 20 minutes of work. The game featured seven ties and 10 lead changes.
 
That win helped Queens avenge a loss at Lincoln Memorial on February 15, when the Railsplitters rallied from a 10-point deficit with seven minutes to play and captured an 81-79 win on Trevon Shaw's (St. Helena Island, S.C.) last-second jumper. Like the SAC title game, Shaw's bucket capped a contest that had eight ties and 10 lead changes.
 
The first regular-season meeting between Lincoln Memorial and Queens saw the Royals outlast the Railsplitters 103-101 in an overtime classic. LMU trailed by as many as 13 points and never had a lead in the second half of that game, but rallied late to force overtime. Despite holding four different three-point leads in the extra period, Queens closed on a 5-0 run to win it at the Levine Center.
 
Both Lincoln Memorial and Queens needed to dig deep to make the Southeast Regional championship game.
 
In Sunday night's semifinal showdown against Limestone, the Railsplitters trailed by as many as nine points and faced an eight-point deficit with six and a half minutes to go, but closed on a 19-5 run to stun the upset-minded Saints 70-64 and advance to the Sweet 16 for the second year in a row.
 
Defense and rebounding keyed Lincoln Memorial's victory, as the Railsplitters held Limestone to 37.5 percent shooting and a 6-for-23 mark from three-point range while also piling up a 46-32 advantage on the backboards. Paul Woodson (Cincinnati, Ohio) and company limited All-Southeast Region guard Shaun Stewart, who scored 37 points in Limestone's quarterfinal win over UNC Pembroke, to 16 points on 6-of-21 shooting.
 
Queens walked a similar path in its win over Augusta, as the Royals erased a 13-point second-half deficit to book its spot in the Sweet 16. Queens shot just 44.3 percent in the contest, but buried 15 three-pointers to power the furious comeback. Todd Withers hit six of his eight three-pointers and scored 19 of his game-high 25 points in the second half to carry the Royals to victory.
 
Lincoln Memorial and Queens are squaring off in the NCAA Tournament for the second season in a row, as the Railsplitters crushed the Royals 95-67 in the Southeast Regional semifinals at Tex Turner Arena in 2016 on their journey to the NCAA Division II National Championship game.
 
Redshirt-senior guard Luquon Choice (Laurens, S.C.) scored a team-high 22 points in the Railsplitters' win over Limestone, and enters Tuesday night's game needing four points to reach 2,000 for his career. Choice – who sits 31 three-pointers away from matching the NCAA Division II career record – would become the fourth player in program history (first of the NCAA era) and the third in SAC history to hit that benchmark.
 
The Railsplitters will also be leaning heavily on All-Southeast Region center Chris Perry (Bartow, Fla.), who recorded his 11th double-double of the season against Limestone with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Perry produced 18 points and nine rebounds, 18 points and eight rebounds, and 20 points and 15 rebounds in the previous three meetings against Queens.
 
Queens will be led by Camps (14.4 points, 6.8 rebounds per game), All-Southeast Region second team pick Jalin Alexander (13.7 points, 2.8 rebounds per game) and junior point guard Ike Agusi (10.6 points, 4.6 assists per game). Alexander scored a game-high 28 points in the game at the Levine Center and poured in 24 points in the game at Tex Turner Arena. He was limited to just nine points on 2-of-8 shooting in the SAC title game. Agusi had 15 points in both regular-season games against Lincoln Memorial while finishing with 14 in the SAC title game.
 
The Lincoln Memorial-Queens Sweet 16 showdown tips off at 7 p.m. on Tuesday inside the Levine Center. The winner moves on the Elite Eight in Sioux Falls, S.D. Live stats, video and audio links are available at www.LMURailsplitters.com.
 
Five things to watch against Queens:
1. Lincoln Memorial and Queens are among the most efficient offensive teams in the country. The Railsplitters are ranked third in the nation with a cumulative 52 percent mark, while the Royals are ninth with a 50.3 percent clip. Lincoln Memorial averages 93.1 points per game (3rd in the country) and Queens is piling up 87.8 (17th).
 
2. Both LMU and Queens are elite defensively as well. The Railsplitters are holding opponents to just 39.5 percent shooting, while Queens is only slightly more forgiving on that end with an opponent field-goal percentage of 41 percent.
 
3. The Southeast Regional final is one of only two that will feature the No. 1 versus the No. 2 seed. The Central Regional is the other with No. 1 nationally-ranked Northwest Missouri State set to host No. 18 Southwest Minnesota State on Tuesday.
 
4. Lincoln Memorial has the advantage of the backboards, as the Railsplitters rank third in the nation in rebounding margin with a plus-10.5 disparity on the glass. By comparison, Queens is 137th with a slight plus-1.0 edge. LMU outrebounded the Royals in each of the previous three meetings.
 
5. The Railsplitters will need to keep their eye on sharpshooter Mike Davis, who has hit 88 three-pointers this season on a 39 percent mark. He scored double figures in all three meetings this season, including a 17-point performance in the first game at the Levine Center.