AUGUSTA, Ga. – The Lincoln Memorial men's basketball team created separation late in an 84-74 win over No. 7 seed North Georgia in the NCAA Tournament Southeast Regional Semifinal on Sunday evening at Christenberry Fieldhouse.
The No. 3 seed Railsplitters (29-4) used a second half rally to put away the Nighthawks (21-8), who led for only 1:28 of the game but remained close for the balance of the contest. Up 68-65 with 5:13 to play, Lincoln Memorial went on a 9-0 scoring run over the next couple minutes to extend the advantage to 77-65 at the 2:41 mark, and it would lead by double figures for the remainder of the game.
Jordan Guest (12 points in the first half) and Jordan Walters (11 points) got the Railsplitters out to a good start in the first half, as they would lead by as many as 11 points midway through the period at 27-16 and 29-18, but North Georgia would cut into the deficit and trail by four points at the break (42-38). The Nighthawks quickly knotted the scoreboard at 42-all and 44-all early in the second frame, but they could never gain an edge over the efficient Lincoln Memorial offense.
Guest (19 points, five rebounds, game-best +17 plus/minus), Quay Kennedy (18 points, two steals) and Walters (17 points, three assists) provided the majority of the scoring for the Railsplitters, while Me'Kell Burries chipped in 12 points, four rebounds and two assists as the other Lincoln Memorial players in double figures.
Chase Rankin stuffed the stat sheet with eight points, seven assists and five rebounds, while Martez Brown went for five points and nine rebounds.
Lincoln Memorial shot 55.4 percent from the field (31-56) including 40.7 percent (11-27) on 3-pointers and limited the Nighthawks to 43.3 percent shooting (26-60). North Georgia won the rebounding battle 34-31, but the Railsplitters outscored the Nighthawks 38-26 on points in the paint.
The Railsplitters advance to the Regional Championship game on Tuesday at 7 p.m. against the winner of No. 1 seed Augusta and No. 4 seed USC Aiken.
