Rock Hill, SC - The top-seeded Lincoln Memorial men's basketball team was on the road in Rock Hill for the South Atlantic Conference tournament. Playing in the tournament's first game, the Railsplitters took on the 8-seed Lenoir-Rhyne Bears. The top-seeded Railsplitters entered the game with a 22-7 record on the season, including a 16-4 mark in conference play with a an 86-57 win over Lenoir-Rhyne earlier in the season.

The Bears got a steady dose of Osmar Garcia-Araujo and Jordan Walters in the first half. Walters led all scorers in the first half with 13 points. The teams battled on even footing for the first few minutes of the game. With the score sitting at 8-8, Lincoln Memorial jumped out to 29-14 lead on the heels of a 21-6 run. The teams would nearly trade buckets in the final 5:30, seeing the Railsplitters lead the Bears 37-21 at the halftime intermission. The game's pace was maintained in the second half. Lincoln Memorial's lead grew to as many as 15, but Lenoir-Rhyne continued to fight, eventually drawing back to within four points, 70-66, with :17-seconds remaining. The bears made it extremely interesting in the final seconds of the game, drawing back to within two points, 71-69, but clutch free throws and taking care of the ball down the stretch allowed Lincoln Memorial to secure a 73-69 win, advancing to the next round of the conference tournament.

Osmar Garcia-Araujo led the Railsplitters in scoring with an 8-of-11 shooting performance from the floor in just 24 minutes of action. Wes Enis also led scoring, matching his counterpart with 17 points. Jordan Walters followed with 14 points. Chase Rankin added 11 points in his first game back after missing two games due to injury. Matthew Sells and Martez Brown added six points apiece. Thomas Allard added two points to round out scoring for Lincoln Memorial.

The Railsplitters advance to the conference semi-final, and will take on the winner of Carson-Newman and Tusculum, which will be played at 5:00 PM on Thursday, March 7th in Rock Hill, SC.