#1 Lincoln Memorial Wins 2016 Southeast Region Title, Railsplitters Earn Bid to the Elite 8

2016 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship Bracket

HARROGATE, Tenn. -- The No. 1 nationally-ranked Railsplitters (32-2) claimed their spot in the 2016 NCAA Division II Elite Eight with a wire-to-wire 103-80 win over the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears (21-10) in the championship game of the Southeast Regional in front of a packed and raucous crowd of more than 4,000 spectators at Tex Turner Arena on Tuesday night.

 
With the win, Lincoln Memorial collects its 22nd straight victory, matching the school and South Atlantic Conference record for the longest winning streak, and punches a ticket to the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight for the first time in program history. It will be Lincoln Memorial's deepest postseason run since the 1976-77 team finished fourth in the NAIA national tournament. It also completes the Railsplitters' nearly flawless run through the Southeast Regional in which they won by 27, 28 and 23 points. The Elite Eight is being held at Dr. Pepper Arena in Frisco, Texas from March 23-26.

Senior Jalen Steele (Knoxville, Tenn.) scored a game-high 27 points on 8-of-16 shooting with five three-pointers, with 21 of his points coming in the first half. At the conclusion of the game, Steele was selected as the Southeast Regional Most Valuable Player, and the Mississippi State transfer was immediately overcome by emotion.

Sophomore Emanuel Terry (Enterprise, Ala.) was all selected to the Southeast Regional All-Tournament team after turning in the most productive game of his college career in the biggest game in program history, scoring a career-high 24 points on 10-for-11 shooting coupled with 12 rebounds and five blocks.

The Railsplitters' final Southeast Regional All-Tournament selection, Gerel Simmons (Accokeek, Md.) added 19 points with three assists and two rebounds, while Dorian Pinson (Greenville, S.C.) produced 11 points, six rebounds and four assists. Curtis McMillion (Fayetteville, N.C.) contributed eight points and five boards in 10 minutes off the bench.
 
Lincoln Memorial shot 53.3 percent from the field, converting 32 of its 60 shot attempts, including 8-for-18 from three-point range. The Railsplitters also went 31-for-39 at the charity stripe to help seal the game late.

Lenoir-Rhyne, which finished shooting 37.8 percent in the game with an 11-for-29 mark from three-point range, was led by Southeast Regional All-Tournament selection Keenan Palmore, who produced 23 points and nine rebounds on 8-for-22 shooting. Evan had 16 points off the bench, while Will Perry collected 13 points, five rebounds and four assists in 25 foul-plagued minutes. Reed Lucas added 10 points.

The Railsplitters now advance to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight at Dr. Pepper Arena in Frisco, Texas. The Railsplitters are the overall No. 1 seed in the Elite 8 and open against No. 8 seed Barry on Wednesday, March 23 at 1:00pm.