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Lincoln Memorial men’s basketball’s Chase Rankin, Quay Kennedy and Me’Kell Burries have been voted to All-South Atlantic Conference teams, the league office announced Thursday.

Rankin and Kennedy landed on the First Team, while Burries got Third Team recognition in a vote of the conference’s coaches.

Rankin, a graduate guard from Columbus, Ohio, led the SAC in both assists per game (7.2) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.20) in the regular season, and his assists average and total assists (217) pace all of Division II so far this season. Rankin averages 12.8 points per game on 53.4 percent field goal shooting while also collecting 5.7 rebounds per game.

Kennedy, a graduate guard from Columbia, Tenn., leads Lincoln Memorial in scoring at 15.0 points per game on 54.1 percent shooting from the field while contributing 4.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. Kennedy ranks third in the SAC in field goal shooting, ninth in scoring and 11th in average assists.

Burries, a redshirt sophomore out of Newport, Ky., averages 12.4 points., 3.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game while making 40.1 percent of his 3-pointers. The sharpshooter is known for putting together big games from beyond the arc including dropping 31 points on 8-12 3-point shooting on Feb. 22 against UVA Wise on his way to a SAC Player of the Week honor. Burries also received the weekly honor on Jan. 9 after scoring 23 points in a win over rival Carson-Newman.

The Railsplitters will face UVA Wise in the SAC Tournament Semifinals on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Furman’s Timmons Arena in Greenville, S.C.

 

2022-23 South Atlantic Conference Men’s Basketball All-Conference

First Team

Jarren Cottingham, Wingate

Bradley Dean, UVA Wise

Quay Kennedy, Lincoln Memorial

Inady Legiste, Tusculum

Quandaveon McCollum, Newberry

Chase Rankin, Lincoln Memorial

 

Second Team

DeAngelo Epps, Catawba

Ben Gahlert, Limestone

Javeon Jones, Catawba

Jordan Jones, Coker

Luke Lawson, UVA Wise

TJ Nesmith, Lenoir-Rhyne

 

Third Team

Gabe Brown, Emory & Henry

Me’Kell Burries, Lincoln Memorial

Destin Clark, Wingate

Kory Davis, Mars Hill

Myles Jenkins, Anderson

Bryant Thomas, Carson-Newman

 

All-Freshman

Mahmoud Bangura, Coker

Caleb Byrd, Newberry

Kory Davis, Mars Hill

Calen Lightford, UVA Wise

Patrick Shelley, UVA Wise

 

Player of the Year

Bradley Dean, Virginia-Wise

 

Freshman of the Year

Kory Davis, Mars Hill

 

Defensive Player of the Year

Bryant Thomas, Carson-Newman

 

Coach of the Year

Rob Perron, Catawba