Hickory, N.C. - The 12th-ranked Lincoln Memorial Men's Basketball Team (24-4, 14-4) defeated Lenoir-Rhyne (12-15, 8-10), 64-49, Saturday evening in the final South Atlantic Conference regular season game before the league tournament at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium.
Lincoln Memorial, the top-ranked squad in the latest NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Poll as well, was led by Vincent Bailey (Jennings, Fla.) with a team-high 14 points.?
Wally Jones (Greensboro, N.C.) and C.J. Wakeley (Gainesville, Fla.) also scored in double figures for the Railsplitters as they finished with 13 and 10 points.? With the win, Lincoln Memorial completed the season sweep of Lenoir-Rhyne as well.
L-R sophomore guard Hunter McClintock (Durham, N.C.) came off the bench to score a game-high 16 points on five-of-six shooting including three treys but the Bears were done in by 33 percent (14-of-43) from the field.
Senior forward D.J. Blackmon (Albemarle, N.C.) added 10 points for Lenoir-Rhyne, who suffered its fourth straight loss.
Lincoln Memorial was hot from the start and eventually took a 40-19 lead, its biggest of the game, with just 1:29 remaining before halftime on a three-pointer by Wakeley.?
The Bears, who trailed at halftime by 18 points at 40-22, got to within nine points (47-38) midway through the second half but couldn't get any closer.
Meanwhile, Lenoir-Rhyne honored its four seniors for the 2011-12 season prior to the contest:? Blackmon, forward Jeff Thomas (Chapel Hill, N.C.) and guards Jon Hathcock (Concord, N.C.) and Kevin Davis (Charlotte, N.C.).
Lenoir-Rhyne will be the fifth seed in the 2012 Food Lion SAC Men's Basketball Tournament and will travel to Newberry, S.C., to face No. 4 Newberry.? Lincoln Memorial, the second seed, will host seventh-seeded Tusculum.? Both contests are scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m., on Wednesday.
The semifinals and finals of the league tournament will take place on Saturday and Sunday at CVCC in Hickory, N.C., at the Tarlton Complex.? The winner will advance to the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Tournament.
