LMU Advances, Anderson Beaten in First Round of NCAA Men's Basketball Regionals

No. 2 Lincoln Memorial 76, No. 6 Carson-Newman 65

AIKEN, S.C. - Tim Pierce picked a good time to have a career day for Lincoln Memorial. The sophomore guard hit six three-pointers and scored a career-high 22 points to lead the sixth-ranked and second-seeded Railsplitters to a 76-65 victory over the seventh-seeded Carson-Newman Eagles in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Southeast Regional on Saturday in Aiken, South Carolina.

Lincoln Memorial (28-2) advances to the semifinals of the NCAA Southeast Regional for the third-consecutive season and, in the process, broke the South Atlantic Conference single-season record for wins, surpassing their own mark from the 2010-11 campaign as well as Presbyterian from 1992-93 and 2002-03.

The Railsplitters also earned the opportunity to enact some revenge from 2012, as a match-up with three-seeded Montevallo awaits on Sunday. The Falcons overcame a 13-point second-half deficit to eliminate Lincoln Memorial in the semis of the 2012 NCAA Southeast Regional on their way to the NCAA Championship title game. LMU and Montevallo are scheduled to meet at 5 p.m. on Sunday at Aiken's Convocation Center with a spot in Tuesday's regional championship on the line.

South Atlantic Conference and Daktronics Southeast Region Player of the Year Vincent Bailey (Jennings, FL) played only six minutes in the first half after picking up a technical foul and drawing another personal foul just two minutes apart. But Tim Pierce (Albany, SC) filled the void, scoring 11 of his game-high 22 points in the first frame to help the Railsplitters hang around.

The Railsplitters trailed at the half for only the fifth time this season as the Eagles carried a 32-31 advantage into the break. In the back and forth first frame, the Railsplitters used a 9-1 run - capped with a Chance Jones (Knoxville, TN) jumper at the 2:51 mark - to take a 31-26 lead. But an Ishmael Sanders three, a Ray Likely free throw and an Antoine Davis jumper paced a 6-0 run for the Eagles to close the half. For the first time this season, the Railsplitters did not attempt a free throw in a half.

Carson-Newman's freshman forward Sawyer Williams was the key to the Eagles' first-half success as he scored nine points and grabbed four rebounds in the first 20 minutes. In the two regular-season meetings with the Railsplitters, Williams' high game was 12 points.

The Railsplitters quickly evaporated the Eagles' lead, opening the second half on a 16-4 run behind eight quick points from Pierce. That frenzy propelled Lincoln Memorial to a 47-36 lead, but Carson-Newson rebounded with seven-unanswered points to close the gap back to 47-43 with 11:45 to play.

It would be the Railsplitters who made the final big push of the contest, holding the Eagles without a field goal for 5:15 while logging 10-straight points to extend the lead to 57-43 with 6:15 remaining in regulation.

While Vincent Bailey was limited to only a 5-for-7 mark from the field, he knocked down 11 of his 14 free-throw attempts to rack up 21 points. Bailey drained eight freebies in the final two minutes, preventing the Eagles from trimming the lead to less than seven points down the stretch. Bailey added 10 rebounds to log his 16th double-double of the season.

Bailey along with Keenan Peterson (College Park, GA) carried the Railsplitters to a dominant 41-22 edge on the glass. Peterson also collected a double-double in the contest, producing 10 points, 10 boards and four blocks in 23 minutes.

But it was the heroics of sophomore swing man Tim Pierce that carried the Railsplitters as the Albany, Georgia native canned all six of Lincoln Memorial's three-pointers (a career high) while pouring in a career-best 22 points. Chance Jones finished with nine points, three rebounds and seven assists, while Lorenza Ross (Savannah, GA) posted seven points, five boards and three assists.

The Railsplitters finished shooting 50 percent from the field with a 25-for-50 mark overall and a 6-for-16 clip from long range. After going without a free-throw attempt in the first half, the Railsplitters attempted 30 freebies in the second, draining 20 of those tries.

Lincoln Memorial recorded double-digit rejections for only the second time this season, turning away 10 shots at the rim, but Carson-Newman still managed to finish 25-for-55 from the field (45.5 percent). But the Eagles only shot 14 free throws with nine makes. Antoine Davis paced the Eagles with 17 points despite a 6-for-14 effort from the floor, while both Ishmael Sanders and Sawyer Williams compiled 11 points apiece. Daktronics All-Southeast Region selections Davis and Sanders entered Saturday's contest combining for nearly 40 points per game. The Railsplitters held that duo to only 11 points total in the second half.

The Railsplitters will look to advance to the championship game of the NCAA Southeast Regional for the first time in school history on Sunday, squaring off against three-seeded and 18th-ranked Montevallo. The Railsplitters and Falcons are set to clash at 5 p.m. in Aiken's Convocation Center.

No. 5 GRU Augusta 86, No. 4 Anderson 84

AIKEN, S.C. – GRU Augusta forward Devon Wright-Nelson's lay-in with less than five seconds on the clock lifted fifth-seeded GRU Augusta past fourth-seeded Anderson, 86-84, in quarterfinal action of the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Southeast Region Tournament, Saturday night at USC Aiken's Convocation Center.

Just 12 seconds before Wright-Nelson's game-winner, Anderson senior Chandler Hash's fifth 3-pointer of the night capped a furious rally that saw the Trojans erase an 11-point second-half deficit to even the score at 84 apiece.

GRU Augusta improved to 24-7 on the season and advances to meet fifth-ranked and top-seeded USC Aiken in Sunday night's semifinals. With the win, the Jaguars avenged an early-season loss at the hands of the Trojans, who finished their season with a 22-10 record.

Senior guard CJ Gleaton tallied a team-high 24 points and pulled down five rebounds, while senior guard Chandler Hash added 21 points, including 18 in the second half. Junior guardMyson Jones also posted 21 points and dished out a career-high 10 assists. Senior forwardKyle Sledge pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.

Wright-Nelson finished with a game-high 28 points, while GRU Augusta senior Ryan Weems added 22 points. Junior Devonte Thomas chipped in 11 points for the Jaguars and senior Harold Doby grabbed a game-high 10 boards.

"I am extremely proud of our guys," said Anderson head coach Jason Taylor. "You know how badly they wanted it. I agree [with Coach Metress] that both teams played very well. Credit [GRU Augusta] – they are really good. I have all the respect in the world for Coach Metress and his program. Defensively, I thought our guys did what we wanted them to. With [GRU Augusta] shooting the way they did and for us to hang in there punch-for-punch, I could not be more proud."

"We just wanted to win. We worked pretty hard to get where we are," added Jones.

After Hash dropped in a 3-pointer for the game's first basket, the Jaguars countered with seven unanswered points over the next two minutes to claim an early 7-3 edge.

But in a preview of the contest's final hectic moments, the Trojans battled back to take a brief 14-12 edge with 13:26 left in the first half on Jones' trey. Later, GRU Augusta snapped a 24-24 deadlock – the fourth tie of the contest - with back-to-back 3-pointers, first from Thomas, then from Weems to take the largest lead by either team through the opening 20 minutes.

The Jags still led, 36-30, with just more than three minutes remaining in the opening frame, before the Trojans countered with a 9-2 outburst over the next 2:06 to take just their second lead since the opening moments of the contest, 39-38, as Gleaton fueled the comeback with four points. But GRU Augusta countered to close the half with four straight points to take a 43-39 lead to intermission.

Clinging to a one-point lead with 17:20 left in the game, the Jags posted a 14-4 surge to claim an 11-point advantage, the largest of the game. But AU refused to surrender and chipped away to pull within three on two occasions inside the final seven minutes of the contest, before Hash's third trey of the game evened the score for the sixth time of the night at 71-71 with 3:34 on the clock.

The Trojans stayed close but were unable to wrest the lead away from GRU Augusta, as the Jaguars rebuilt an 81-76 edge with less than a minute remaining on a pair of free throws from Wright-Nelson. Jones connected on a 3-pointer and following two from the line by Weems, Gleaton drained a pair of free throws to pull the Trojans within 83-81 with 28 seconds left.

After Jaguar junior D'Angelo Boyce hit one-of-two from the line, Hash knocked down his fifth 3-pointer to knot the score at 84-84 at the 17-second mark. The Jaguars hurried the ball upcourt with Wright-Nelson dropping in the game-winner before Gleaton got one last attempt at the buzzer that caromed off the backboard.

"We knew coming out in the second half that we had to battle," said Hash. "They are a great team. We knew we had to give our best effort. We came up a little short but we battled back in the second half."