GREENVILLE, S.C. — Bradley Dean continued his torrid pace with a 35-point outburst as UVA Wise scored its biggest win as a NCAA Division II member with an 86-78 win over the No. 9 Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters to advance to the South Atlantic Conference Tournament Championship.

WHAT HAPPENED

Saturday's game featured 10 ties and nine lead changes. UVA Wise secured the lead for good at the 5:44 mark of the second half when Dean made one of his game-high 12 field goals off of a Ben Bryson assist. The Cavaliers would push the lead to as much as eight points with 61 seconds to go when Luke Lawson sank a pair from the charity stripe and solidify the 86-78 triumph.

The last time the Cavaliers beat the Railsplitters was on Dec, 8, 2012 when UVA Wise snagged a 81-80 victory in overtime.

Saturday's win snapped a 14-game losing skid over the Railsplitters for the UVA Wise men's basketball program.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Dean went off for a solid game-high 35 points and seven rebounds, surpassing the 1,000 career-point mark after the 1:21 mark of the second quarter as he slipped in a jumper.

Rron Ukaj tallied a tough 15 points including five free-throw shots and four shots from the field.

Lawson dropped in 12 points in the victory, with Calen Lightford trickling in 11 points.

Quay Kennedy of the Railsplitters was held to 16 points while Martez Brown and Jordan Walters snagged 15 and 14 points, respectively. Brown also added 14 rebounds to his stat line.

Lincoln Memorial struggled from beyond the arc, only hitting four-of-23 (17.4-percent). The Cavaliers shot 43.8-percent from the arc and 51.9-percent from the field.

Up next, the Cavaliers face the Catawba Indians in the SAC Tournament Final on Sunday, March 5 at 4 PM in Greenville, S.C.