HICKORY, N.C. --- D'Mario Curry recorded in 24 points and nine rebounds to lead top-seeded Lincoln Memorial University to a 62-56 victory over No. 5 seed Tusculum College in the a semifinal round game of the 2011 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament at the Catawba Valley Community College Saturday night.
The Railsplitters (No. 12 in NCAA Division II) advances to the program's first-ever SAC Tournament championship game and will face the winner of tonight's second semifinal match-up between No. 3 seed Wingate and seventh-seeded Catawba.
Curry shot 7-of-10 from the floor and 10-of-14 from the free throw line in his 39 minutes of action. Darryl Garrett added 11 points off the bench, while Brandon Armstrong posted 10 points and a pair of assists in the victory.
Tusculum (12-18) made a gutty effort at pulling off the upset as Justin Steigerwald led the Pioneer charge with 15 points, while Brett Williams and Kevin Vest posted 11 and 10 points, respectively.
The contest was a back and forth affair that included eight ties and 11 lead changes.
In the first half, LMU parlayed a 12-2 run in to its largest lead of the night at 25-15 following a Curry jumper at the 5:46 mark. Tusculum would chip away at the deficit as Williams buried a jumper with nine seconds on the clock as LMU took the 32-25 lead into the locker room.
The Pioneers opened the second half with an 8-1 spark that included a Tommy Klempin three-point play and five points from Steigerwald as Tusculum tied the game at 33-33 with 17:54 left in the game.
LMU answered with a three-point by Armstrong to regain the lead, but Tusculum responded with a 6-2 run that included a Klempin basket and a Steigerwald three-pointer as the Pioneers recaptured the lead at 39-38 with 14:46 remaining.
Both teams would go into a scoring drought for the next four minutes before Curry buried a leaning eight-foot jumper as LMU captured the lead again at 40-39.
Back came TC again with a 6-1 spurt consisting of baskets by Klempin and Vest, while Williams knocked down a pair of free throws as the Pioneers took their largest lead of the game at 45-41 with 9:27 remaining.
The lead changed hands for the final time at the 6:11 mark following an offensive tip-in by Garrett to give the Railsplitters the advantage at 50-49. Following a Williams' free throw to tie the game at 50-50, LMU would connect on five of its next six free throws to move out to a 55-50 lead with 3:16 left.
Dionte Grey converted a lay-up to pull Tusculum back to within three points (55-52) with three minutes remaining, but that's as close as the Pioneer would get as LMU made four of its last six free throw attempts down the stretch as the Pioneers missed on its final seven field goal attempts.
Lincoln Memorial shot 46.2 percent from the floor, including 10-of-20 in the opening half, while also limiting the Pioneers to shoot 36.2 percent, including 7-of-22 (31.8%) in the first period. LMU also edged Tusculum on the glass by a 31-28 margin.
Klempin finished the night with nine points and five rebounds, while senior Rob Troutman was held to five points in the collegiate finale as he fouled out of the game with five minutes left. He ends his Tusculum career with 1,008 points.
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