Rock Hill, SC - After defeating the 8-seed Lenoir-Rhyne Bears in the first round of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament, and subsequently the 4-seed Carson-Newman Eagles in the semifinals, the Lincoln Memorial men's basketball team was back in action on Friday night against the 3-seed Catawba Indians in the South Atlantic Conference Championship game in Rock Hill, SC. The Railsplitters entered as the 1-seed, with an overall record of 24-7, with a 16-4 mark in conference play.

Lincoln Memorial started the game on a 4-0 run before Catawba came storming back to take a 5-4 lead. Martez Brown had five rebounds in the first four minutes of action. The Railsplitters regained the lead at 9-7 with 14:22 remaining in the first half. The score swelled to 11-11 with the teams knotted up with just over 12:00 minutes remaining in the first, seeing the Railsplitters' scoring drought stretch to over three minutes. Brown had nine rebounds in just eight minutes. The Indians regained the lead, 12-11 on a free throw with 10:34 remaining in the first half. Catawba regained the lead on a jumper, 14-12, seeing the lead change hands for the third time of the game to that point. Catawba's lead grew to four points, the largest of the game at the time for the Indians. Although in a scoring drought of over six minutes, the Railsplitters still managed to only trail by a narrow margin, eventually tying the game at 16-16 with 7:21 remaining in the half. Trailing 18-16, on the heels of an 8-0 run, Lincoln Memorial regained the lead 24-18. The lead grew even further in the waning minutes of the first half as the Railsplitters raced out to 28-20 lead with less than a minute remaining. The Indians added one free throw before the horn, bringing the score to rest for halftime, 28-21, in favor of Lincoln Memorial.

The Railsplitters started the second half outscoring the Indians 4-2 to take a 32-23 lead. Brown tallied his 10th rebound in the opening minutes of the half, inching closer to the SAC Tournament title game record of 15. Lincoln Memorial's lead swelled to 13 points with 16:00 minutes remaining in the game, 36-23. The Indians answered with an 8-0 run, cutting the deficit to 36-31. The Railsplitter lead grew back to 10 points, 43-33 with just over nine minutes left in the game. The Lincoln Memorial lead continued to grow, eventually by 12 points, 48-36, before Catawba cut it back to within single digits, 48-39 as the clock crept below six minutes remaining. The Indians continued to chip away, drawing back to with seven points, 48-41 with less than five minutes left. Moments later, Catawba's head coach was assessed a technical foul, upset with a call on the floor, allowing for Wes Enis to connect on four free throws, giving the Railsplitters a double digit lead with 4:29 remaining, 52-41. On the heels of an 11-0 run, the deficit was cut to a single point, 52-51 with less than a minute remaining. With an opportunity to tie the game from the charity stripe, Catawba missed the ensuing free throw, leaving the Railsplitters narrowly in control. The Indians took the lead on a three point basket, 54-52 with :43-seconds remaining. Lincoln Memorial's scoring drought stretched to nearly four minutes as Catawba's 13-0 run continued. After stepping to the line, Catawba extended its lead to 55-52. However, with four seconds remaining in the game, Enis connected on a three pointer from extra long range, tying the score at 55-55 to send the title game into overtime. It was only the second time in conference history that a title game went into overtime, and the first in 25 years,

The Railsplitters started overtime on a 4-0 run, taking a 59-55 lead as the clock crept below four minutes. The Indians cut the score back to within a single point, 60-59 with 1:50 remaining. Catawba retook the lead from the free throw line with 1:04 remaining in the game, 61-60. Neither team would be able to score again, seeing the Indians secure a one point victory, claiming the SAC Tournament Championship.

Wes Enis led Lincoln Memorial in scoring with 15 points. He was followed by Osmar Garcia-Araujo with 13 points. Martez Brown tallied another double double with 10 points and 13 rebounds, falling just two rebounds short of the SAC title game record of 15 rebounds. Jordan Walters chipped in 10 points. Matthew Sells added six points, Chase Rankin added four points, and Luke Bartemes tallied two points to round out scoring for the Railsplitters.

Lincoln Memorial will now await its regional draw on Sunday evening.