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It is said that all good things must come to an end. That was the case for the Lincoln Memorial men’s basketball team Saturday evening. Following a 23-4 regular season in which they claimed the South Atlantic Conference regular season title, the Railsplitters’ season came to a close after falling to UNC-Pembroke at the buzzer, 90-88, in the first round of the NCAA DII Men’s basketball tournament. It was a heartbreaking end to a wonderful season for Lincoln Memorial.

Lincoln Memorial earned a 4-seed in the southeast region on DII Selection Sunday, drawing 5th-seeded UNC-Pembroke, a familiar opponent, in the first round. The teams met on Saturday in Columbus, GA at Columbus State University for a clash in the big dance. It was evident early on that neither team would yield and that the game was likely to go down-to-the-wire. The Braves outscored the Railsplitters 41-37 in the first half to take a narrow four-point lead into the halftime intermission. The two teams battled fervently in the second half, seeing the game knotted at 88-88 in the closing seconds. Following a missed bucket, UNC-Pembroke was able to corral an offensive rebound and put it back for the go-ahead bucket with 1.9 seconds left in the game, seeing the Braves take a 90-88 victory.

Following his team’s loss, in a post game interview, head coach Jeremiah Samarrippas said, “credit UNC-Pembroke. They battled. They did what they wanted to do. We didn’t do a good job of keeping them off the glass or playing without fouling. The last time we played them, they shot 30 free throws; they shot 32 in this one. We gave up 16 offensive rebounds, which is something they do at a really high level, but I thought we battled. Elyjah (Freeman) was unreal. He was the best player on the floor. He really carried us down the stretch. I thought Wes (Enis) made some big shots for us too.”  “We just didn’t have enough bodies,” he added. “That’s on me as a coach. I’ve got to do a better job.”

“Having young guys go through this will only make us stronger and tougher,” he said. “It will only help them moving forward; dealing with adversity like this. This group is special. Even though we didn’t reach our ultimate goal, the way we handled ourselves throughout the season and handled adversity. The amount of growth in the locker room from individual growth, as a group, our staff–this truly was a special group. I wish I would have done a better job as a coach. I think we would be advancing if I was a little bit better.”

Elyjah Freeman led all scorers against UNC-Pembroke with 33 points on 11-of-17 shooting from the floor. He was followed by Wes Enis with 19 points. The tandem added six rebounds each. Mahmoud Banguar “Mo” chipped in 12 points and seven rebounds. Connor Jordan added 10 points Osmar Garcia-Araujo added seven points, EJ Smith tallied five points, and Thomas Allard added two points to round out scoring for Lincoln Memorial against UNC-Pembroke.

Enis led Lincoln Memorial throughout the season in scoring en route to being named the conference’s Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. The sophomore guard averaged 20.3 points-per-game and 4.6 rebounds-per-game. He reached the 1000-point milestone near the end of the season, completing the feat in an astonishing 1.5 years of collegiate basketball. He was followed all season by Freeman, who was named the conference’s Freshman of the Year, who averaged 18.9 points-per-game and 8.7 rebounds-per-game. He was the highest scoring and rebounding freshman in the conference all season long, garnering immense attention after erupting for 30+ points multiple times this season. Jordan Walters, who suffered a season-ending injury in the postseason, was the team’s glue. Walters is revered for his dedication to the Lincoln Memorial program. On the season, Walters averaged 9.1 points-per-game, 6.0 rebounds-per-game, and had a team-leading 107 assists on the season. Freshman guard EJ Smith made his presence felt all season long en route to being named to the conference’s All-Freshman team. While the freshman standout may have averaged 8.6 points-per-game, the pace of the game for both teams was often dictated by his tone-setting pace on offense and defense. Long range threat Thomas Allard averaged 8.5 points-per-game and 4.4 rebounds-per-game this season. Allard proved pivotal in many key moments for the Railsplitters throughout the season. Osmar “Big O” Garcia-Araujo averaged 6.9 points-per-game and 2.8 rebounds-per-game. Garcia-Araujo’s strength and finesse on the interior made him a match up nightmare on both ends of the floor. Tusculum transfer Connor Jordan averaged 6.0 points-per-game and 2.2 rebounds-per-game. Jordan’s was one of the best on-ball defenders in the conference this season. His offense picked up in the latter part of the season, allowing Lincoln Memorial to add another offensive dimension. Coker transfer Mahmoud “Mo” Bangura averaged 5.6 points-per-game and 3.0 rebounds-per-game this season. His versatility on both ends of the floor played perfectly into the Railsplitters’ offensive and defensive philosophy. Jay Boyd suffered a season-ending injury early in the season. Appearing in only six games, Boyd was on track for a great season that was unfortunately cut short. However, the sophomore guard is positioning himself for a great comeback with intense rehabilitation efforts. Eckerd transfer Babacar Thiam averaged 1.7 points and 1.0 rebounds-per-game. Appearing in 17 games, Thiam’s athleticism was evident any time he touched the ball. Big man Gavin Ayedelotte averaged 1.5 points and .7 rebounds-per-game this season and appeared in six games. In limited minutes, Ayedelotte has proven to be an offensive threat with his ability to shoot from beyond the arc. Freshman forward Ngundeng Ruey averaged 1.4 points and .7 rebounds-per-game this season and appeared in 18 games. Ruey has shown freakish athleticism and a lot of promise for the coming years.