Three SAC Teams Advance to NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Regional Semifinals

MONTEVALLO, Ala. -- It was a banner day for the SAC in the first round of the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship, as Anderson, Wingate and Lincoln Memorial each notched victories, advancing to Sunday's regional semifinals.

Anderson will take on Wingate in a rematch of the SAC Championship game on Sunday at 5 p.m. (CST), while LMU will play top-seeded Montevallo at 7:30 p.m.

No. 3 Anderson 77, No. 6 Columbus St. 64

MONTEVALLO, Ala. - With four players reaching double figures and senior forward Stephen Cobb's career-high five 3-pointers, 14th-ranked and third seeded Anderson outpaced No. six seeded Columbus State, 77-64, in first-round action of the NCAA Southeast Region Saturday afternoon at Montevallo's Bank Trust Arena.

Anderson (25-5), the defending Southeast Region Champions, used a late second-half run fueled by Cobb's long-range accuracy to moves on to meet the winner of the No. 2 seeded USC Aiken/No. 7 seeded Wingate matchup Sunday afternoon at 5 p.m.

The Trojans set a new school record for wins in a season, while claiming its fifth straight Southeast Regional contest going back to last year and won for the 18th time in the last 20 games. Columbus State saw its season end at 18-12.

Both teams started slowly on the offensive end, with the Trojans connecting on just three of their first 10 shots, but Columbus State was also cold from the field, making just two of its first eight, while the Trojan defense was stellar, forcing turnovers to prevent the Cougars from gaining the upper hand.

Columbus State gained an early 6-2 lead on a pair of 3-pointers, but Anderson countered by erupting on an 18-3 run. AU pulled within 6-5 on a trey by senior Tyrell McDowell from the top of circle and took its first lead at 8-6 on junior guard Denzail Jones' first 3-pointer of the contest with 14:47 on the clock. Jones fueled the outburst with nine points and Cobb added five as the Trojans took largest lead of the opening half, at 20-9, on Jones' steal and layup.

But CSU responded with six unanswered points to cut Anderson's advantage to five. A deep trey from the left wing by senior Jo'el Lamb slowed the Cougars' outburst, but Idell Bell drained another three to again trim AU's cushion to five, then CSU cut the Trojan edge to 24-21 with 4:52 left in the opening half as part of a 12-4 surge.

Less than two minutes later, sophomore Chandler Hash nailed a triple to push Anderson's lead to 30-25 with 3:03 remaining, but with Jones and Trull both on the bench with two fouls, CSU connected on four of four free throws inside the final three minutes and the Cougars climbed within 32-31 at the half.

The first seven minutes of the second half featured the only four ties of the game, but Columbus State was never able to regain the lead. Lamb worked inside to give Anderson a narrow 42-40 lead with 14:24 remaining, but the Cougars answered on the other end.

Jones' basket snapped the 42-42 deadlock, giving the Trojans a lead they would not surrender and they pushed out to 50-44 lead on back-to-back 3-pointers from Cobb, first from the left side, then the right wing.

AU maintained the margin for the next two minutes, then closed the game with a 16-8 run.

Jones and Cobb shared game-high scoring honors with 17 points apiece, with Taylor Shugartnotching his fifth double-double of the season with 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Cobb was a perfect 5-for-5 from beyond the arc, while McDowell added 12 points and shared game-high assist honors with Jones, as both dished out five.

Bell led the Cougars with 17 points, with Dimitri Davis netting 16. Steve Peterson chipped in 12 points.

No. 7 Wingate 73, No. 2 USC Aiken 70

MONTEVALLO, Ala.- For the fourth straight game, the Wingate University Bulldogs turned in another gritty performance down the stretch in the second half as they held USC Aiken to only one field goal over the final six minutes to take a 73-70 win in the first round of the NCAA Southeast Regional Saturday afternoon.

The seventh-seeded Bulldogs advance to the field of 32 to play fellow South Atlantic Conference member and third-seed Anderson University Sunday at 6 p.m. in BankTrust Arena on the campus of the University of Montevallo.

Leading by two with 38 seconds left, Wingate (21-11) knocked down four-of-four free throws to make it a three point advantage. The Pacers called timeout with nine seconds remaining and had to settle for a tying three point attempt from 24 feet away that missed everything and sealed the upset for the Bulldogs.

"This team is such a tough-minded group and every time we got knocked down, we got up and kept grinding away at them in second half," Wingate head coach Brian Good says. "I was really happy about the great start but we got caught up in the lead instead of just playing our game. In the second half we got back to who we were."

Senior guard Jaime Vaughn (Tallahassee, Fla.) led the Bulldogs with 22 points, his 25th double-figure scoring game of the year. He also knocked down all eight free throw attempts on the afternoon. Junior forward Odell Turner (Charlotte, N.C.) posted his fifth double-double, scoring 16 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. Senior guard Chase Smith (Upper Marlboro, Md.) added 13 points. The Bulldogs knocked down 21-of-22 free throws in Saturday's win, compared to just 11-of-20 for the Pacers.

Vaughn, who was playing in his 110th career game at Wingate, was proud of his team Saturday. "This means so much to us because it was our first time in tournament and to get past the first round makes it a great experience," Vaughn says. "We have to forget about the win against Anderson in the SAC championship and just play our game and continue to play hard."

The Bulldogs, who came in without any NCAA experience on their 12-man roster, fell down 5-2 in the early minutes of action. Wingate shook off the nerves and responded with a 13-2 run to take a 15-7 lead with six minutes played. Vaughn and sophomore forward Deion Turman (Pittsburgh, Pa.) each scored four points in the spurt.

The Pacers continued to put pressure on Wingate but the 'Dogs kept the lead between four and eight over the next seven minutes of play. After freshman forward Mike Tyson (Kinston, N.C.) banked in a turn around jumper to make it 27-21, USC Aiken closed the half on a 14-2 run. Pacer junior guard Terrence Dent (Laramie, Wy.) sandwiched two three-point baskets around two Wingate turnovers to tie it at 27.

Wingate called timeout down four with under a minute remaining but turned it over, leading to an easy layup for USCA. The Bulldogs were unable to get a shot off before half and trailed 35-29 at halftime. Wingate gave up 52% shooting to USCA in the first 20 minutes.

The Pacers kept the lead between four and eight points for the first seven minutes of the second half. Smith buried a three with 12 minutes remaining to cut Aiken's lead to two at 51-49. The Pacers built the lead back to four on a jumper from junior forward Rick Alderman (Roanoke, Va.) with 10:19 remaining. Vaughn answered for the Bulldogs, hitting a pair of free throws and a triple to put the Bulldogs on top by one with 9:32 to go. Nelson answered with a triple to give USC Aiken the lead back, but junior guard Ethan Kincaid (Morganton, N.C.) tied it on the next trip with a jumper.

Turner answered an Aiken bucket with a big triple, while a pair of free throws from Smith put Wingate on top 67-64 with 2:39 remaining. USC Aiken answered with a free throw to cut the lead to two, but Vaughn again had the answer, driving in for a layup with the shot clock expiring to make it 69-65 with 50 seconds left. Junior guard Re'mon Nelson (Columbus, Ohio) knocked down a three with 16 seconds to go, but Vaughn calmly knocked down a pair of free throws on the other end, forcing the Pacers to go for a three on the final possession.

Wingate shot 54.8 percent from the field on the day, hitting six-of-12 shots from three-point range (50 percent). USC Aiken shot 50 percent from the field, while also connecting on 50 percent of shots from beyond the arc (seven-for-14). The Pacers held a 27-24 rebounding advantage, while Wingate scored 15 points off of nine USC Aiken turnovers.

"I think this win defines our group," Turner notes. "We've been through a lot up to this point in the season. My teammates have confidence in me to step up and make big shots. This is a great feeling but we are not satisfied. One game at a time until we reach our goal."

No. 4 Lincoln Memorial 67, King 60

MONTEVALLO, Ala. -- In a game that saw nine ties in the second half alone, the No. 4 Railsplitters pulled away late to advance past the No. 5 King College Tornado, 67-60, and move into the semi-finals of the NCAA Southeast Regional Tournament. Lincoln Memorial University defeats King College for the third time this season and will matchup with host, University of Montevallo, tomorrow evening. The Tornado complete their season at 23-7. The Railsplitters jump to 25-5 on the season.

The Railsplitters trailed 56-55 with 2:31 left in the contest before Brandon Armstrong gave LMU the lead for good with a clutch three-pointer as the contest neared the two-minute mark. Cam Carden made it a two possession game with 1:08 left in the affair as he drained a deep trey to push the score to 61-57 in the Railsplitters' corner. LMU went 6-8 from the charity stripe down the stretch to put the game out of reach and advance past the Tornado, 67-60.

Vincent Bailey led the Railsplitters, who shot 43 percent from the field while limiting King College to only 32 percent, with 15 points, aquired mostly at the free throw line where he went 9-11. Bailey added 12 rebounds to cap a strong performance for the Railsplitters in their biggest game of the season. Lorenza Ross came off the bench to pour in 13 points on 4-8 shooting while dishing out a couple of assists. Cam Carden added nine points on three trey balls, two of which came in the closing minutes of play.

The Tornado were led by Eddie Piccinini who put in a brilliant 32 point performance to lead an offensive attack that struggled mightily in the contest. Brandon Goss added nine points as the second leading scorer for King College on the night.

The Railsplitters won a close battle on the boards by a margin of 42-35. The Tornado won the battle in the paint as they outscored LMU 18-10 in that area. The difference came from the bench as the Railsplitters received 29 points to King College's ten.

LMU opened up the contest by taking a 5-0 lead on the wings of a layup by Wally Jones and a trey from Brandon Armstrong. King quickly answered by making a 7-2 run to tie the game on Eddie Piccinini's layup with 13:51 left in the half.

The Tornado continued their run as they opened up a 12-7 advantage before LMU used a 9-0 run off their own, capped by Tony Martin's jumper with 8:35 remaining to take a 16-12 lead. LMU held tight to that margin until a couple of free throws from Vincent Bailey and Lorenza Ross pushed their lead to 29-22 with 3:16 in the half.

LMU pushed their lead to nine before the Tornado closed the first stanza with a free throw from Brandon Crompton and and three-pointer by Michael Fortune to take the teams to the break with the Railsplitters on top 31-26.

King College broke out of the break by using a 6-0 run to grab a 32-31 lead. Vincent Bailey responded with a layup off of a beautiful dish from Brandon Armstrong to put LMU on top 33-32 with 17 minutes left to play.

The Tornado held sway for the ensuing minutes until Ross nailed a jumper to tie the contest at 44-44 with 10:19 on the clock. Ross drained a free throw and Jake Troyli popped in a jumper with 8:12 on the clock to put LMU on top 47-44.

The game saw two more lead changes before Brandon Armstrong's trey with 2:15 left put the Railsplitters up for good. Cam Carden's deep three fell as the game-icing moment as that put LMU ahead by two possessions with a minute left in the affair.

King College missed on their next three attempts which forced the Railsplitters to the line where they cashed in, making 6-8 down the stretch to run out the final minutes with a 67-60 victory.

The Railsplitters advance to the semi-finals where they will take on the top seed in the region, the University of Montevallo, with a trip to the NCAA Southeast Region Final on the line. That game will tip at 7:30 central, 8:30 eastern in Montevallo, Alabama.