Anderson Advances to NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Regional Final; LMU Eliminated

MONTEVALLO, Ala. -- In a rematch of last weekend's SAC Basketball Championship final, third-seeded Anderson advanced to the southeast region finals of the 2012 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship with a 71-63 victory over No. 7 seed Wingate on Sunday afternoon.

Anderson will take on No. 1 seed Montevallo -- which eliminated Lincoln Memorial, 61-60, on Sunday -- Tuesday at 7 p.m. (CST) on the Montevallo campus. The Trojans will be looking for the second-straight NCAA Elite Eight apperance.

No. 3 Anderson 71, No. 7 Wingate 63

MONTEVALLO, Ala. - Guards Denzail Jones and Nick Trull combined for 43 points, as 14tnh-ranked and third-seeded Anderson defeated seventh-seeded and fellow South Atlantic Conference-member Wingate, 71-63, in the semifinals of the NCAA Men's Basketball Southeast Region Tournament Saturday evening at Montevallo's Bank Trust Arena.

With the win, Anderson (26-5), the defending Southeast Region Champion, advances to the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive year after defeating Wingate for the third time this season and avenging a seven-point setback to the Bulldogs in the South Atlantic Conference Tournament title game. The Trojans continue to add to the school record for wins in a season after earning its sixth consecutive regional victory going back to last year and won for the 19th time in the last 21 games.
Wingate saw its season end at 21-12.

The Trojans will meet No 1 seed and host Montevallo on Tuesday in a bid for their second consecutive trip to the NCAA D-II Elite Eight in Highland Heights, Ky.

Anderson forced three Bulldog turnovers inside the first three minutes as the Trojans gained an early 13-2 lead, while the AU defense was stellar in the early going, holding Wingate to just one field goal in the opening four-plus minutes.

With the score knotted inside the first minute at 2-2, senior Jo'el Lamb sparked an 11-0 run with a trey, and back to back 3-pointers from senior guard Nick Trull and junior guard Denzail Jones gave the Trojans a 13-2 lead at the 16-10 mark.

Wingate countered with a 7-0 run of its own, with seniors Taylor Shugart and Tyrell McDowell snapping the Bulldog run with inside baskets. Shugart, a 6-foot-7 center, poured in seven points in the game's first 12 minutes.

Sophomore Chandler Hash drained a 3-pointer from deep in the left corner midway through the first half and Jones connected on two free throws a minute later to give AU its' largest lead of the frame, at 25-12 with 9:08 remaining.

But Wingate again answered, going on a 10-1 run over the next three minutes to narrow Anderson's cushion to just four points with more than six minutes on the clock.

The Bulldogs' Quan Alexander narrowed the gap to 28-26 with a pair of free throws with less than three minutes on the clock and Jamie Vaughn gave Wingate its first lead of the game with a trey from the top of the circle, but the Bulldogs' first lead of the night was brief, as AU's Stephen Cobb answered with a 3-pointer for the Trojans, giving Anderson a 31-29 lead with 1:28 left before the half.

Vaughn tied the score again at 31-31 with two free throws, while Trull hit two from the line with 29.6 seconds to snap just the second tie of the game, giving Anderson a 33-31 edge, then drew a charge on Vaughn with exactly nine seconds left to stop a Wingate attempt to tie or take the lead at halftime.

AU scored first six points of the second half to open a 39-31 advantage, but again Wingate rallied, this time with an 11-3 outburst, to knot the score for the final time of the contest. Trull, who had five first-half points, scored 10 of Anderson's next 17 points as the Trojans pushed back out to a double-digit advantage with 7:06 left.

Wingate chipped away and pulled within 61-58 inside the final five minutes, but would get no closer, as Jones connected on a pair of free throws and Trull followed with his fourth trey of the game.

Trull finished with a game-high 22 points, while Jones added 21 points and handed out a career-high eight assists. Stephen Cobb pulled down a season-high nine rebounds.

Vaughn scored netted 19 points with three rebounds for the Bulldogs, while Chase Smith added 12 points.
Tip-off for Tuesday's championship tilt is slated for 7 p.m. (Central) at Bank Trust Arena.

No. 1 Montevallo 61, No. 4 Lincoln Memorial 60

MONTEVALLO, Ala. - The Railsplitters' season came to a dramatic halt on Sunday evening as they fell, 61-60, in the semi-finals of the NCAA Southeast Region Tournament to the host, University of Montevallo Falcons. Lincoln Memorial University caps an historic season, in which the accolades included attaining the No. 1 national ranking earlier in the year, with a 26-6 record. The Falcons will move to the finals of NCAA Southeast Region where they will face off with Anderson University for a chance to go to Highland Heights, Kentucky for the Elite Eight on the line. They improve to 26-7 for the year.

Antoine Davis' off-balance layup with six ticks remaining in the game put the Falcons on top 61-60 and completed an 18-3 run in the final 8 minutes in favor of the University of Montevallo. The Railsplitters held a seemingly insurmountable 57-43 advantage before poor shooting and turnovers down the stretch led to a dramatic comeback for the Falcons.

The Railsplitters were led by 13 points from Vincent Bailey and Cam Carden in the contest. Carden went 3-4 from behind the arc to complile the majority of his points and Bailey went 4-7 from the field and 5-5 from the line to fill out his stats. Bailey also pulled down seven boards to lead LMU in that category with Desmond Johnson. Brandon Armstrong added nine points and Johnson notched seven points.

DJ Rivera pushed the pace offensively for the Falcons as he compiled a game-high 16 points in the affair. Antoine Davis and Drico Hightower each added 14 points to round out most of the scoring for the University of Montevallo.

The Railsplitters were defeated 37-32 on the boards and the Falcons forced LMU into 18 miscues, leading to 18 points which made a tremendous impact down the stretch. Montevallo scored 12 points in the paint to LMU's four but the Railsplitters' bench outscored the Falcons 16-6.

The Falcons grabbed early command of the board as they ran out to a 10-4 lead in the opening minutes on the wings of five points from Drico Hightower and a trey by DJ Rivera. They continued to push their advantage as a three by Ryan May put the Falcons on top 15-6 with 14:47 left in the half.

With the Railsplitters trailing 19-11 on DeMarcus Catchings' bucket with 11:26 on the clock, LMU used a 10-2 run, capped by Cam Carden's trey to tie the score at 21-21 by the eight minute mark. Carden struck again in the next possession with a jumper to give LMU their first lead of the contest at 25-23.

A jumper and two free throws put the Falcons back on top before another long ball from Carden regained the lead at 28-27 in favor of the Railsplitters with 3:52 left in the half. The Falcons fought back to take the lead, pushing their bulge to four on Antoine Davis' jumper with 1:10 on the clock. LMU answered with a 5-0 run to close the half at 35-34 in their favor.

The Railsplitters came out of the break on a mission as they pushed their lead to 40-34 on a three from Brandon Armstrong and a jumper from Desmond Johnson. Montevallo cut the deficit to 44-42 with 14:02 remaining before the next six minutes saw LMU run off a 13-1 rally. The Railsplitters forced the Falcons into four turnovers in that span as they took a commanding 57-43 lead with 8:37 to play.

In an instance, the complextion of the game turned as a three-point play by Davis in the next possession functioned as Montevallo's response as they cut it back to 57-46 with 8:18 remaining. Marvin Firzgerald's rebound and layup drove it to single digits, at 57-48, with 6:11 on the game clock.

At the five minute mark, the Railsplitters continued to hold sway at 58-49 before the Falcons ran off a 10-0 run to grab the lead. Fitzgerald was once again the culprit as he hauled in the Rivera miss and scored to cap the rally and put Montevallo on top 59-58 with 32 seconds left. The Railsplitters missed all five attempts during that span as well as committing four turnovers to aid in the rally.

With 19 ticks remaining, Brandon Armstrong was fouled on a loose ball scramble and was forced to the free throw line. Armstrong cooly knocked down both freebies to regain the lead at 60-59 in favor of Lincoln Memorial University.

In the next possession, the Falcons came out of the timeout, drove the ball down court and Antoine Davis nailed the running layup to put Montevallo on top 61-60 with six seconds remaining. The Railsplitters were unable to get an attempt as the Falcons deflected the final shot attempt. The Railsplitters were bested by the University of Montevallo 61-60 and eliminated in the semi-finals of the NCAA Southeast Regional.