Greenville, S.C.----The top-seeded and second-ranked Lincoln Memorial University Railsplitters defeated third-seeded Wingate University 95-83 Sunday afternoon in the 2016 South Atlantic Conference men's basketball championship game in Timmons Arena. The Railsplitters move to 29-2 overall, winning the SAC Tournament title after claiming the regular season championship with a 22-0 mark in league play. Wingate falls to 22-9 on the season.

LMU earns the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Railsplitters have been the number one team in the region in every poll and will likely host the NCAA Southeast Regional Tournament for the second consecutive season. The Bulldogs will await to hear their tournament future Sunday night at 10:30 p.m. when the bracket is released live on NCAA.com. Wingate has been in the top six in every region poll this season and will look to make its first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 2012-13 season.

Luquon Choice and Dorian Pinson had 20 points each to lead the LMU attack. Choice was three-for-four from beyond the arc, while Pinson pulled down 13 rebounds and handed out six assists. Gerel Simmons added 19 points, going nine-for-nine at the free throw line. Jalen Steele added 15 points and seven rebounds for the Railsplitters.

Junior forward Isiah Cureton (Waxhaw, N.C.) had 22 points, seven rebounds and three assists to lead the Wingate attack. Senior guard Xavier Griffin (Marshville, N.C.) added 15 points and six rebounds, while freshman Mike Baez (Huntersville, N.C.) and junior Keith Griffin (Concord, N.C.) had 15 points and five rebounds apiece. Sophomore Zeriq Lolar (Orlando, Fla.) contributed 10 points for the Bulldogs. Cureton and Baez both earned All-SAC Tournament honors for the Bulldogs.

A Pinson jumper gave LMU an early 10-4 lead, but buckets from Lolar and Cureton, along with a Lolar three put the 'Dogs on top 14-12 at the 12:07 mark. A triple from Choice put LMU back on top, while a Steele three put the Railsplitters ahead 24-18 at the midway point of the first half.

A Xavier Griffin three got Wingate back within two, but a Pinson three and Steele layup gave LMU a double-digit lead with 6:42 left in the half. A Choice three made it 38-25, but Keith Griffin's bucket with five minutes left got the 'Dogs back within nine. Back-to-back Pinson buckets stretched the LMU advantage back to 13, while a Nicksen Blanc putback at the buzzer gave Lincoln Memorial a 50-34 halftime lead.

Wingate used a 7-0 run in the second half to trim the deficit to 10 when Cureton's layup made it 56-46 at the 16:01 mark. A Xavier Griffin three and Keith Griffin dunk made it 57-51 with 15 minutes remaining, but Lincoln Memorial countered with a 9-2 run, taking a 66-53 lead on a pair of Choice free throws at the 12:51 mark. A Keith Griffin layup and Cureton three-point play, followed by a Kerigan Farley (Hickory, N.C.) free throw got Wingate back within seven at the midway point.

Simmons knocked down a three to push the lead to 11 with nine minutes to go, while a Choice three made it 75-63 a minute later. Griffin's three-point play, along with two Cureton free throws got the 'Dogs back within seven at the 7:25 mark, but two free throws and a three from Simmons made it 80-68. Steele buried a three to push the lead to 13 with five minutes left. A Cureton layup trimmed the lead back down to eight with 2:31 to go, but a Pinson bucket and two Pinson free throws made it 91-79 with 1:36 remaining. The lead would remain in double figures the rest of the way.

LMU shot 51.7 percent from the field, hitting nine-of-16 shots from three-point range (56.3 percent). Wingate shot 37.3 percent from the field, connecting on eight-of-25 shots from beyond the arc (32 percent). Lincoln Memorial held a 43-36 rebounding advantage, while each team collected 10 second-chance points. Wingate turned 15 LMU turnovers into 19 points, while the 'Dogs committed only eight turnovers on the day.