Rock Hill, SC – Ahead of the 24-25 men's basketball season, Lincoln Memorial and Carson-Newman were selected to split the conference regular season title as selected by the conference. The Railsplitters got the best of the Eagles in two games during the regular season, taking an 89-80 victory on the road, and a 95-85 victory at home. The two teams once again found themselves lined up across from one another, this time in the South Atlantic Conference Tournament. Lincoln Memorial defeated Wingate in the quarterfinal and Carson-Newman defeated UVA-Wise to find themselves once again matched up with a trip to the conference tournament final on the line.

Both regular season games were extremely competitive, and Thursday's game was the exact same. Carson-Newman was the first to score, but Lincoln Memorial answered quickly to tie the game at 2-2 early. The Eagles ripped off a 7-0 run to take a 9-2 lead. The Railsplitters responded with a 10-3 run to tie the game at 12-12. The teams battled on even footing for the remainder of the first half, with the lead changing hands eight times, the score sat knotted at 37-37 at the half. Both teams shot 52% from the floor in the first half.

Carson-Newman started the second half with a three pointer to re-assume the lead, 40-37. The score grew to 42-39 before Lincoln Memorial scored back-to-back buckets to take a 43-42 lead. The Eagles regained the edge, eventually taking a 50-49 lead. A three pointer from Elyjah Freeman gave the Railsplitters the 52-50 advantage with 12:47 left in the game. The teams traded buckets for the next couple of minutes, seeing the lead change hands for the 12^th time, leaving Carson-Newman a 58-56 lead with less than 10 minutes remaining. The lead grew to 61-60 in favor of the Eagles with 7:56 left in the game. The Railsplitters tied the game at 65-65 before regaining a 67-65 lead with six minutes remaining.

A pair of free throws saw Carson-Newman regain the lead, 69-67, as the clock crept below five minutes remaining. Lincoln Memorial tied the game for the 14^th time at 69-69 with less than four minutes left in the game. After the Eagles took a 71-69 lead, Wes Enis connected on a huge three pointer to give the Railsplitters a 72-71 lead before a second chance bucket from Freeman extended the lead to 74-71 with 2:29 left in the game. A 5-0 run from Carson-Newman saw the lead change hands once again, leaving the Eagles in control 76-74 with 1:31 left in the game.

The Railsplitters regained the advantage 77-76. Carson-Newman answered to regain a 78-77 advantage, but Freeman once again responded with a layup, taking a 79-78 lead with under one minute remaining. Lincoln Memorial tallied two more points to bring the score to its final, 81-78, seeing the Railsplitters advance to the SAC Tournament Championship for the second season in a row.

Lincoln Memorial was led by Elyjah Freeman with 32 points and a career-high 19 rebounds, posting his 11^th double-double of the season. He was followed by Thomas Allard with 11 points, Connor Jordan and Mahmoud Bangura with 10 points each, Jordan Walters added eight points, Wes Enis chipped in seven points, and EJ Smith added three points to round out scoring for the Railsplitters.