GREENVILLE, S.C. – Up double figures early, and leading at halftime, the No. 23/T-25 Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team (24-7, 17-5 SAC) fell to No. 2/2 Lincoln Memorial University (32-1, 22-0 SAC), 75-68, in the South Atlantic Conference Championship Game on Sunday afternoon at Timmons Arena. The loss brought an end to the Royals' 10-game winning streak.

Van Turner Jr. led with 17 points on three of five 3-point shooting. Jamari Smith and Gavin Rains each posted double-doubles, as Smith scored 16 with 13 rebounds and Rains scored 10 with 13 rebounds. Daniel Carr scored 15 points with five rebounds to earn a spot on the All-Tournament Team. Kenny Dye was also named to the All-Tournament Team after an eight-point and six-assist performance.

After Lincoln Memorial scored the game's first seven points and held Queens scoreless in the game's first four minutes, the Royals went on an 8-2 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Turner to pull within one, 9-8, with 14:33 left in the first half.

Moments later, up 18-17, the Royals exploded for a 10-0 run, in which the final eight points were scored by Turner on a 3-pointer, three free throws, and a right baseline floater, to take a 28-17 lead with 6:44 remaining, their largest lead of the game.

However, in the final minute of the first half, the Railsplitters scored six-straight points in less than a minute, capped by a fastbreak lay-in from Devin Whitfield at the halftime buzzer, to pull within one at the break, 35-34.

In the second half, LMU opened up its largest lead, 60-50, with 7:41 remaining, after a lay-in by Courvoisier McCauley ended an 8-0 run. But Queens countered and shortly after closed the gap, scoring seven in a row to pull back within one score, 60-57, after a pair of made free throws by Carr with 5:58 to play.

The Royals pulled within one again, 66-65, after a paint jumper by Rains with 2:27 to go. Queens then survived a missed layup by Rhondi Hackett and a missed 3-point attempt by Cameron Henry, and after a rebound by Rains, had possession with a chance to take the lead and less than two minutes to play.

However, the Royals turned it over, leading to a fastbreak layup by Henry that resulted in a three-point play to give the Railsplitters a 69-65 lead with a 1:33 on the clock.

Lincoln Memorial held a slight lead the rest of the way, closing it out 4-for-6 at the free throw line in the game's final 30 seconds.

Queens shot 34.9 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from the 3-point line (8-24), and 94.1 percent at the free-throw line (16.17). The Royals outrebounded the Railsplitters, 45-30, but committed 20 turnovers that led to 31 points off turnovers and 21 fastbreak points for LMU.

Lincoln Memorial shot 45.6 percent from the floor, 28.6 percent from the 3-point line (8-28) and 71.4 percent at the free-throw line (15-21). The Splitters were led by 25 points from Whitfield, who was named SAC Tournament MVP. McCauley followed with 24 points and nine rebounds as he earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team.

The Royals await the announcement of the NCAA Tournament bracket, which will be revealed by the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Committee on Sunday night, at 10:30 p.m., on NCAA.com. First-round play is scheduled to be begin on Saturday Mar. 14.