Lincoln Memorial slowly stretched its lead to double digits, 53-43, following a floater in the lane by Justin Allen with 10:37 remaining in the game. The basket came shortly after Rivera went to the bench and followed an offensive foul by the Falcons on the other end of the floor, which led to two easy baskets by the Railsplitters, who increased their lead to 57-43 with just more than eight minutes remaining.

Rivera re-entered the game and the Falcons responded with a 9-1 run to cut the deficit to 58-52 following a three-point play by Davis with 4:57 left.

Rivera scored five straight points for the Falcons to cut the deficit to 58-57 before Fitzgerald’s offensive rebound and putback with 33.7 seconds left gave Montevallo its first lead of the second half.

Brandon Armstrong drained two free throws in a one-and-one situation at the free-throw line to put Lincoln Memorial back on top, 60-59, with 20.1 seconds left in the game. The free throws marked the final points before Davis’ heroics in the final seconds.

Davis pleaded for the Montevallo students to return and make their presence known Tuesday night in the championship game.

“We need them to motivate us and to get us hyped,” Davis said.