HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lincoln Memorial University men's basketball team will be playing for its third NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Southeast Regional Championship title Tuesday night inside B. Frank "Tex" Turner Arena after defeating sixth-seeded Tusculum University 80-66 Sunday evening in the regional championship's first semifinal. Following a 25-day hiatus from game competition due to complexities with COVID-19 contact tracing, the second-seeded Railsplitters (17-3) were gritty in their first NCAA postseason victory since March 11, 2018.
 
Matching the visiting Pioneers' physicality, LMU outrebounded Tusculum (14-6) 40-34 and held a plus-12 margin in points in the paint. The Railsplitters never trailed and had five double-figure scorers led by junior forward Jordan Guest's fourth double-double of the season.
 
Improving to 8-1 in Division II Southeast Regional Championship openers, LMU secured its 29th consecutive win in Harrogate behind 47.5 percent (29-of-61) shooting and 43 second-half points. The Railsplitters were elite defensively, holding the Pioneers to just 34.4 percent (21-of-61) shooting from the field and only 4-for-21 (19 percent) from distance. Forcing 18 turnovers, LMU overcame 18 turnovers of its own and outscored Tusculum 20-6 in fastbreak points.
 
With a driving layup early in the second half, redshirt senior guard Devin Whitfield became the Railsplitters' 32nd 1,000-point scorer. Reaching the coveted scoring mark in only 52 games donning the Blue and Gray, the Lipscomb, Alabama (McAdory HS), native has scored 1,914 career points as a Division II player.
 
LMU made its first three shots and scored the first nine points of the game, holding the Pioneers scoreless for nearly the opening four minutes. Tough, physical play ensued over the next four minutes as Tusculum outscored the Railsplitters 8-5 to climb within four at 17-13 just over nine minutes in. The Pioneers would make it a one-point affair at the 4:17 mark of the half with a three pointer from forward Inady Legiste trimming down LMU's lead to 26-25.
 
However, the Railsplitters locked in for the closing minutes of the half and headed into the break on an 11-2 run sparked by sophomore guard Jeremiah Keene's three pointer. Taking a 37-27 advantage into the locker room, the 10-point lead tied LMU's largest of the first half.
 
Shooting 47.1 percent (16-of-34) in the opening 20 minutes, the Railsplitters got to the free-throw line just once and went 4-for-11 (36.4 percent) from three-point range. LMU held Tusculum to 37 percent (10-of-27) first-half shooting as the Pioneers connected on only one of their nine three-point attempts and went 6-for-7 (85.7 percent) at the foul line. Guest played the entire half and had 10 points and five rebounds at the break.
 
After four minutes of second-half play, the Railsplitters had built a commanding 18-point, 47-29 lead thanks to a 10-2 LMU run that was capped by back-to-back threes from senior guard Alex Dahling. Whitfield's layup kept the Railsplitters in front by their largest margin of the day at 50-32 six minutes into the second half.
 
A quick 7-0 Tusculum run in 90 seconds of action got the Pioneers back into the game, but LMU responded with an 8-2 run in just over a minute of play. Redshirt junior guard Cameron Henry made a steal and threw down a fastbreak dunk to cap the run and put the Railsplitters up 58-41 with 11:20 to go. From there, Tusculum made its best effort to extend its season. The Pioneers constructed a 14-3 run over the following five-and-a-half minutes and pulled within six at 61-55 on a three by forward Justin Mitchell.
 
Baskets from Guest and Whitfield off Keene assists stretched LMU's lead back out to 10 with just under six minutes remaining and Tusculum would get no closer than seven the rest of the way. A Keene layup gave the Railsplitters an 11-point lead at 71-60 with under three minutes left and a three by Keene with 40 seconds on the clock put the game out of reach for the Pioneers at 78-65.
 
LMU shot 48.1 percent (13-of-27) from the floor in the second half but went just 3-for-11 from distance. Going 82.4 percent (14-of-17) at the charity stripe in the half, the Railsplitters held Tusculum to 32.4 percent (11-of-34) second-half shooting as the Pioneers went 3-for-12 (25 percent) from long range and 14-for-16 (87.5 percent) at the line. Henry scored 10 points, grabbed five rebounds and distributed a pair of assists in 15 minutes of second-half action.
 
Guest led the way with a team-high 19 points and game-high 12 boards, while Henry scored 17 points on 7-for-13 shooting and brought down eight rebounds. Dahling added 15 points on 5-for-9 shooting, which included going 3-for-6 from deep, and four assists as Keene and Whitfield both finished with 11 points apiece. Redshirt sophomore guard Xavier Bledson handed out a team-high five assists in 13 minutes off the bench.
 
Legiste led Tusculum with 19 points on 8-for-13 shooting and the Pioneers got 16 points and nine rebounds from South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year Trenton Gibson and 15 points from Keaston Brown.  
 
Winning its fourth NCAA regional championship semifinal game since 2016, LMU avenged its 90-74 loss at Tusculum on Feb. 17 in what ended up being the Railsplitters' regular season finale.
 
Up Next…
LMU will take on fourth-seeded Emmanuel College out of Conference Carolinas in the Division II Southeast Regional Championship title game Tuesday night at 7 p.m. with a trip to the Elite Eight on the line. The Lions routed top-seeded Belmont Abbey 76-53 in the second semifinal game Sunday night after ousting fifth-seeded Queens University of Charlotte 80-78 in the regional championship's second quarterfinal Saturday night.
 
How to Follow
Stay tuned to LMURailsplitters.com, as well as LMU's social media platforms - @LMURailsplitter on Twitter, @LMURailsplitters on Facebook and @lmurailsplitters on Instagram, for complete coverage of Railsplitter basketball throughout the 2020-21 postseason.