The SAC Earns First Ever Men’s Basketball Championship Finals Berth as Railsplitters Advance to National Championship Game with 103-102 Victory Over West Liberty

FRISCO, Texas -- Gerel Simmons (Accokeek, Md.) poured in 35 points and scored eight points in the final two minutes of regulation to lead the top-seeded Railsplitters (34-2) past the fourth-seeded West Liberty Hilltoppers (31-4) 103-102 in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight semifinals on Thursday night at Dr. Pepper Arena in Frisco, Texas. With the win, No. 1 nationally-ranked Lincoln Memorial advances to the NCAA Division II National Championship game to face second-seeded Augustana at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

In a game that featured the two winningest Division II men's basketball programs of the decade, Lincoln Memorial and West Liberty treated the fans in Frisco to an instant classic that featured 11 ties and 20 lead changes.

"I've been doing this for 18 years and I've never been a part of a game that good on this stage with two teams just competing their brains out," LMU head coach Josh Schertz said. "I have an unbelievable amount of respect for West Liberty, their players, their program and coach (Jim) Crutchfield. And I have an unbelievable amount of respect for the guys in my locker room. They just kept fighting and stayed resilient."

Simmons - a consensus All-American - carried the torch offensively for the Railsplitters, who surpassed the 100-point threshold for the 15th time this season, shot 57 percent (39-for-68) from the field and 56 percent (14-for-25) from three-point range. The Accokeek, Md. native racked up 35 points on 13-for-21 shooting and paired that with seven assists, which matched a season-high mark.

"I felt myself get going early and the shots were going in," Simmons said. "I just felt hot out there so I tried to keep attacking. Luckily, the shots continued to go in. I realized I was drawing crowds so I tried to look for my teammates as well." 

Along with Simmons, Jalen Steele (Knoxville, Tenn.) pitched in 19 points on a 5-of-9 mark from three, Dorian Pinson (Greenville, S.C.) fell just shy of a triple-double with 17 points, 10 assists and six rebounds, and Luquon Choice (Laurens, S.C.) and Curtis Webb (Spartanburg, S.C.) added 11 points apiece.

The Railsplitters were forced to overcome a six-point, second-half deficit as well as a monster performance from West Liberty's senior forward Seger Bonifant, who turned in a performance for the ages to nearly lead the Hilltoppers to their second national championship game in the past three seasons. Bonifant scored 44 points on 15-of-22 shooting. That is the highest single-game scoring performance in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight since 1971 and matches the third-most in the history of the Elite Eight.

Not to be outdone by the Railsplitters' breathtaking offensive performance, West Liberty finished shooting 50.7 percent (34-for-67) from the floor with a 10-for-24 mark (41.7 percent) from three-point range.

David Dennis Jr. added 26 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the Hilltoppers, while Devin Hoehn had 11 and Mike Lamberti scored 10.

"As a coach, it was incredible to watch and be a part of," Schertz said. "You're not scoring a point or grabbing a rebound or anything. I just watched two teams, the competitors, the great players and the great shots that were made down the stretch."

In a battle between the nation's top two scoring offenses, Lincoln Memorial and West Liberty put on a first-half display that lived up to the hype. The Railsplitters shot 58 percent from the field and went 9-for-16 from three-point range, while the Hilltoppers knocked down 53 percent of their shots with five triples.

By the time the dust settled on a half that featured 10 lead changes and five ties, Lincoln Memorial carried a 54-53 lead into the break. The 107 combined points were the second-most first-half points in the history of the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.

West Liberty hit six of its first eight shots, including 3-for-4 from three-point range, to carry a 15-13 lead into the under-16 media timeout (15:41). From there, the game continued to swing back and forth, with Lincoln Memorial assuming a 23-19 edge on a triple from Simmons at the 13:41 mark. Simmons hit another three less than a minute later to increase the Railsplitters' lead to 28-23, but the Hilltoppers ripped off a 10-3 run over the next passage of play to grab a 33-31 lead on two free throws by Brady Arnold at the 10-minute mark.

The Railsplitters regained a four-point lead with back-to-back three-pointers from Steele, but an old-fashioned three-pointer play by Zak Kirkbride closed the gap to 37-36 at the 9:15 mark. However, Lincoln Memorial would rip off an 11-1 spurt over the next two and a half minutes to establish its largest lead of the game at 48-37 on another Steele three-pointer with 6:25 left in the first.

The Hilltoppers would claw right back into it, though, as back-to-back three-pointers cut the Railsplitters' lead to 48-43 at 4:46. West Liberty would continue to chip away at the deficit before the half came to a close, knocking down five free throws and using a late three-point play to send the game into the half with the Railsplitters in front 54-53.

As a whole, free throws played a huge role in the half and would later play a key role in the game as well. West Liberty went 12-for-15 at the charity stripe through the first 20 minutes as compared to a 1-for-2 effort for Lincoln Memorial.

After the two teams traded buckets to open the second half, West Liberty churned out a 7-0 run capped by a layup from Dennis Jr. at the 16:30 mark, which gave the Hilltoppers their largest lead of the game at 62-56 and forced Schertz to burn a timeout.

West Liberty held sway over the ensuing passage of play, maintaining a slight edge until Simmons buried two free throws, Pinson swiped a steal and scored and Emanuel Terry (Enterprise, Ala.) flushed home a dunk to fuel a 6-0 run that put the Railsplitters back in the driver's seat at 74-70 with 11 minutes left.

The Railsplitters' lead would increase to 77-72 on a three-pointer by Webb, one of his three triples in the game, at the 10-minute mark, but West Liberty answered with a 9-3 run to take an 81-80 lead on a trey by Bonifant with 7:49 left.

The game would juggle back and forth until Bonifant scored five straight points to put the Hilltoppers ahead 88-83 with six minutes left. The deficit held steady at five after Dennis Jr. connected on a triple at the 5:25 mark, but a three by Webb and a layup by Simmons tied the game at 91-91 by the under-four media timeout.

As the game approached the closing stretch, neither team led by more than two points until Simmons knocked in a layup and then buried a three-pointer to make it 101-97 in favor of the Railsplitters with 50 seconds left.

The Hilltoppers quickly made it a one-possession game, though, as Lamberti hit a three-pointer on the other end to close the gap to 101-100 with 41 ticks remaining.

The Railsplitters missed two free throws after West Liberty fouled on the ensuing in-bounds, but forced Bonifant into a turnover on the other end of the floor. Pinson then went 1-for-2 at the charity stripe to increase LMU's lead to 102-100 with 15 seconds left.

Dennis Jr. drew a foul on the other end of the floor and missed both free throw attempts, forcing the HIlltoppers to foul Choice, who hit just 1-of-2 to keep it a one-possession game at 103-100 with six seconds left.

Dennis Jr. was fouled once more on the next Hilltopper possession and he converted both free throw attempts to close the gap to one point. West Liberty then fouled Terry before the ball was even brought into play. Terry missed both free throws and the Hilltoppers corralled the rebound and called a timeout to set up the potential winning shot.

The ball was in-bounded to Dennis Jr. near midcourt, and the freshman guard took two quick dribbles onto the Hilltoppers' side of the floor, but his 35-foot attempt missed wide left, sending the Railsplitters to the national championship game for the first time in program history.

The Railsplitters wet 2-for-8 from the charity stripe in the final 30 seconds and finished 11-for-21 from there in the game.

"We put more pressure on ourselves defensively down the stretch and made it a little closer than it needed to be," Schertz said. "But I was proud that they didn't let the bad free-throw shooting bleed into our defense. I thought our defense the last four minutes was really good."

Now the Railsplitters advance to the first national championship game in the nearly 100-year history of the program, where the men's hoops team will be looking to capture the first national title in the history of the Lincoln Memorial University athletics department. This year's Railsplitters are the second team in school history to make it to the national championship game, joining the 2007 men's soccer team that lost to Franklin Pierce.

The win marks another monumental accomplishment in what has been an indescribable eight-season run for head coach Josh Schertz, who inherited a program in 2008 that had just eight wins the season before his arrival.

"It's been amazing to think where we were and where the program has come," Schertz said. "You do it with people. They have to be unbelievably talented and obviously we have incredibly talented guys. But talent isn't enough. You've got to have chemistry, competitive will and intelligence, and the guys in the locker room embody all that."

The Railsplitters will square off against Augustana, who cruised past Western Oregon 74-55 on Thursday night, in the national championship game on Saturday at 3 p.m. (ET). That game will be broadcast live on CBS.