AIKEN, S.C. – A running jumper by Lorenza Ross with 4.3 seconds left gave second-seeded and 13th-ranked Lincoln Memorial the late lead and Shahmel Brackett clanged a last-second 3-pointer off the side of the rim at the other end as the Railsplitters moved on in the 2013 Men's Basketball Southeast Regional with an 82-80 victory over seventh-seeded UNCP on Saturday.

The loss officially put the lid on a very successful season for UNCP (22-10) who closed out the 2012-13 campaign by winning 11 of its last 13 outings. Lincoln Memorial (24-5) will now move on to play third-seeded Barton (22-7) in Sunday's semifinal round at the Convocation Center in Aiken, S.C.

Brackett closed out his career with a game-high 27 points for UNCP, while fellow senior George Blakeney registered his 17th double-double of the season with a 14-point, 10-rebound outing. Ross scored a team-best 20 points on 10-of-15 shooting for Lincoln Memorial who got double-digit scoring from three other players as well.

The Railsplitters shot better than 70 percent (19-of-27) from the field in the second half and became just the fourth team this season to out-rebound (27-23) the Black & Gold. The Braves entered the game ranked third nationally in rebounding margin, while LMU toted the nation's ninth-best rebounding squad into the weekend.

"You hate to see either one of these teams lose today, but that's the beauty and the challenge of the NCAA Tournament," said UNCP head coach Ben Miller. "Our senior class is hurting right now, not just because of the game, but because this is the last chance that this group will have to play together. These guys came in and changed the history of Braves basketball. The respect that we have gotten around the region over the last few years is because of these guys. They changed the program."

UNCP led by as much as seven points, 76-69, on a rare 4-point play by Brackett with 6:45 left, but Cam Carden answered with a 4-point play of his own on the other end, and then hit another trey 44 seconds later to tie the game back up. With neither team able to shake the other, Brandon Winford hit the front end of a two-shot foul to give the game its 10th tie score with 1:27 left to play and the Railsplitters benefitted from a big call on the ensuing possession that gave them the ball under their own basket following a missed 3-pointer by Ross.

The Braves led by six point, 39-33, on a jumper by Alex Bradley with 1:13 left before the halftime break, but Dustin Craig hit a jumper with 52 seconds left, and then hit another jumper right before the buzzer to cut the LMU deficit back to two points, 39-37, heading into the locker rooms. The Braves shot 56 percent from the field in the first half to fuel the halftime advantage.

NOTES:
• UNCP's 22 wins this season is the most for a men's basketball team in Pembroke since the 1990-91 squad finished its campaign with a program-best 27-5 record.
• UNCP's 2012-13 senior class (George Blakeney, Shahmel Brackett, K.J. Cooper) close out their careers with a cumulative 66-52 (.559) record. It the most wins for a senior class since the 1993-94 senior class registered a cumulative 69-44 (.611). The senior class also boasts the program's only two NCAA Tournament appearances, as well as the program's only appearance in the PBC Tournament championship game (2010-11).
• Brackett finishes his career with 1,623 points. That number ranks fifth among UNCP's all-time scorers and sixth among the Peach Belt Conference's all-time scoring leaders.
• Blakeney finishes his career with 1,263 points. His scoring total ranks 19th among UNCP's all-time leading scorers. Blakeney also closed out his career with 953 career rebounds as well.
• Cooper finishes his career with 839 points, while also registering 336 career assists and 108 steals.
• UNCP is now 0-2 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including an 80-66 loss to then-No. 3 and top-seeded Augusta State in the opening round of the 2011 NCAA Southeast Regional in Augusta, Ga.
• The Braves finished the season with school records for both home victories (13) and Peach Belt Conference victories (14). UNCP's second place finish in the PBC East (tied for second place overall with Montevallo), is the club's best PBC finish in program history.
• PBC Co-Coach of the Year Ben Miller is now 72-73 in five seasons at UNCP. His record produces the highest winning percentage for a UNCP head coach in the NCAA Division II era (1992-Present) and the highest winning percentage for a UNCP head coach since former athletic director Dan Kenney registered a 124-78 clip in seven seasons (1985-92) as the skipper for the Braves. UNCP's season win total has increased nearly four-fold since Miller arrived in Pembroke prior to the 2008-09 season
        o 6-21 in 2008-09
        o 9-18 in 2009-10
        o 18-12 in 2010-11
        o 17-12 in 2011-12
        o 22-10 in 2012-13