No. 1 Lincoln Memorial Wins South Atlantic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament Championship

The No. 1 ranked and top seed Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters defeated the No. 2 seed and nationally ranked No. 5 Queens Royals 77-75 on Sunday (March 4) evening to win the 2018 South Atlantic Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament Championship.

No. 1 Lincoln Memorial Wins South Atlantic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament Championship

Team Stats

March 4, 2018

GREENVILLE, S.C.  (theSAC.com) – The No. 1 ranked and top seed Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters defeated the No. 2 seed and nationally ranked No. 5 Queens Royals 77-75 on Sunday (March 4) evening to win the 2018 South Atlantic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament Championship. With the win the Railsplitters secured an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional.

Queens, who had lost its previous two meetings with LMU, came out firing on all cylinders and took a 41-36 lead into halftime. The Royals used a stifling defense to force eight Railsplitter turnovers that led to six points.  

The Railsplitters started the second half on a 13-6 run to take the lead, and they led by as much as 11 during the second half. The Royals were not about to go away, as they mounted a late comeback, tying the game at 75 with just 18 seconds left. Dorian Pinson's jumper with seven seconds remaining gave the Railsplitters the 77-75 lead and the eventual win.

Pinson, the tournament MVP, scored a game high 31 points with eight rebounds, five assists and six steals to lead the Railsplitters. Also scoring in double figures for LMU were Kamaran Calhoun with 19 points and Cornelius Taylor with 16 points.

Leading the way for the Royals were Todd Withers and Julian Alexander. Withers scored 18 points and hauled in seven rebounds, while Alexander netted 17 points with eight boards. Daniel Carr added 14 points and five rebounds, and Shaun Willett chipped in 10 points and six rebounds.  

As the top two regionally ranked teams in the Southeast, both the Railsplitters and the Royals will await the results of the NCAA Southeast Region selection show, which takes place Sunday (March 4) at 10:30 p.m. Fans can watch the selection show live online at www.ncaa.com.

2018 South Atlantic Conference Men's Basketball All-Tournament Team

Dorian Pinson, Lincoln Memorial

Todd Withers, Queens

Emanuel Terry, Lincoln Memorial

Shaun Willett, Queens

Trevon Shaw, Lincoln Memorial

2018 SAC Men's Basketball Tournament MVP – Dorian Pinson

 

 

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