Rock Hill, SC – One day after defeating the Carson-Newman in the tournament semifinal, the top-seeded and 8th-ranked Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters met the 2nd-seeded and 14th-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne Bears for the South Atlantic Conference Tournament title on Friday. It marked the third time this season the teams met, splitting the regular season with each winning its home game. Lincoln Memorial and Lenoir-Rhyne have both been ranked in the top 25 nationally throughout the season.

Lenoir-Rhyne controlled the game at the tip, racing out to a quick 6-2 lead. The score grew to 11-6 in favor of the Bears before Lincoln Memorial knotted the game at 11-11 with a 5-0 run. Lenoir-Rhyne jumped out to a 23-17 lead, but a 5-2 run from the Railsplitters saw the score draw back to within one possession, 25-22. The score grew to 30-30 with 4:47 left in the first half as Lincoln Memorial tied the game. The Bears out scored the Railsplitters 10-5 in the closing five minutes to take a 40-35 lead at the half. The two teams shot nearly identical in the first half. Lincoln Memorial posted a 48% clip from the floor, including a 44% mark from long range. Lenoir-Rhyne shot 46% from the floor with a 44% mark from long range. The Bears out rebounded the Railsplitters by five boards, 20-15 and won the battle in the paint 20-14.

Lincoln Memorial came out fast to start the second half, ripping off a 9-3 run to take its first lead of the game at 44-43. Lenoir-Rhyne regained the lead on a three pointer, 46-44, but Mahmoud Bangura drove the tin and finished through contact, completing the old fashioned three-point play from the charity stripe to see the Railsplitters re-assume control, 47-46 with 14 minutes left in the game. The Bears knotted the game at 47-47, but a 7-3 run saw Lincoln Memorial's lead grow to four points, 54-50 with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game. The Bears began to fight back, but the Railsplitter lead grew to 58-53 with nine minutes left in the game. Outscoring the Bears 7-6 over the next four minutes, Lincoln Memorial's lead swelled to 65-59 with just five minutes left in the game.

At the 4:30 mark of the game, Wes Enis connected on a mid range jump shot, cresting 1,000 points in his short 1.5-year career, further extending the Lincoln Memorial lead to 67-59. The Railsplitters took a 69-61 lead with three minutes remaining in the game to match its largest lead of the game to that point. Lenoir-Rhyne refused to go quietly, stringing together a 7-0 run to cut the score to 69-68 with just over one minute remaining in the game. The Bears tied the game at 69-69 as the clock crept below one minute. Each team added one more bucket, but neither emerged victorious in regulation, sending the game to overtime.

Lenoir-Rhyne started the overtime period on a 6-0 run to take a 77-71 lead before Lincoln Memorial got its first basket of the overtime period, cutting the lead to 77-73 with 2:44 left in overtime. The Railsplitters put together a 6-0 run to cut the lead back to one point, 77-76 with two minutes left in overtime. Lenoir-Rhyne took a 79-76 lead, leading to a Lincoln Memorial timeout with 1:25 left on the clock. The Bears managed to hang on and secure an 82-78 victory.

Lincoln Memorial was led in scoring by Elyjah Freeman who tallied his 12th double-double of the season with 29 points and 15 rebounds. Wes Enis followed with 22 points and five rebounds. Mahmoud Bangura "Mo" added 11 points and five rebounds. EJ Smith chipped in seven points, Thomas Allard added five points, Jordan Walters and Osmar Garcia-Araujo added two points each to round out scoring for the Railsplitters.
Lincoln Memorial now awaits Selection Sunday to find out its seeding for the NCAA Men's DII Basketball Tournament.