From staff and wire reports
Lincoln Memorial was picked to win the South Atlantic Conference Men’s Basketball Championship as voted by the league’s head coaches.
The Railsplitters picked up 11 first-place votes and received 121 points. Lincoln Memorial finished second nationally last season and went 22-0 in the SAC.
Wingate and Queens tied for No. 2 in the poll with 100 points.
The Catawba Indians were picked fifth.
Catawba’s Jameel Taylor (17.3 points per game) is a first team All-SAC pick.
Returning from injury, K.J. Arrington, is a second team pick.

SAC women’s hoops

The South Atlantic Conference head women’s basketball coaches voted Wingate the pre-season favorite in the league’s preseason poll.
The SAC head coaches gave Wingate 119 points and nine first-place votes.
The Bulldogs won the 2016 SAC tournament and advanced to the NCAA post-season.
Newberry (99 points), Carson-Newman (86) and Lincoln Memorial (74) round out the top five in the coaches’ poll.
Catawba placed sixth.
Catawba has two players on the preseason All-SAC first team, with Bri Johnson and Terri Rogers getting recognition.

College football
Tickets for Appalachian State’s bowl game are now available for sale on appstatesports.com.
Fans can purchase tickets for all four potential bowl destinations to watch the Mountaineers play in their second straight bowl game.
Appalachian’s bowl destination and opponent will be announced on Sunday, Dec. 4. The Mountaineers will play in one of four bowls with Sun Belt Conference tie-ins:

December 17, 2016
5:30 p.m. – Raycom Media Camellia Bowl (Montgomery, Ala.)
5:30 p.m. – AutoNation Cure Bowl (Orlando, Fla.)
9 p.m. – R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl (New Orleans, La.)
December 23, 2016
8 p.m. Dollar General Bowl (Mobile, Ala.)

Steele update
Morehead State’s Shay Steele (West Rowan) had 18 points and six rebounds in a 92-33 exhibition win against Transylvania on Thursday.

Prep soccer
Salisbury (13-4-4) is the No. 5 Midwest seed in the 2A soccer state playoffs and will host Polk County (11-10-1), the No. 12 West seed, in the first round on Saturday night.

NCHSAA
Football ADM figures were posted on Thursday.
Notable schools are listed in Scoreboard.
The NCHSAA uses those figures to determine if schools will compete for A (small) or AA (large) championships.

Timber sports
Rockwell’s Matt Slingerland will be competing in the 12th annual Stihl Timbersports World Championship in Stuttgart, Germany, on Nov. 11-12.
Slingerland will be one of five Americans in the competition, and the USA will be competing for the team title.
More than 20 nations will be represented.
Slingerland will compete in the Springboard, Stock Saw, Standing Block Chop, Single Buck, Underhand Chop and Hot Saw.

Jayvee football
Salisbury beat North Rowan, 35-19, on Thursday and went 5-0 in the CCC.
Jamarie McCullough had a huge night, scoring on runs of 83, 87 and 96 yards. That’s 266 yards on those three carries.
Tyrone Johnson had a 20-yard scoring run.
Jaiwan Poole had an interception and a big return.
Luke Holland had a 46-yard scoring run and kicked five PATs.
North standouts were Gavin Kuld and Malcolm Wilson.
•••
West Rowan got good play from both lines and beat Hickory Ridge, 8-0.
Dylan Sigmon scored the game’s only TD.
•••
In Carson’s 20-14 loss to Cox Mill, the Cougars had to fight back from a 20-0 deficit in the third quarter.
Gerry Cipres put the Cougars on the board with a 41-yard scoring run.
D’Andre Wilkerson had a 12-yard scoring run with about 1:30 left, and D.J. Jackson tacked on a 2-point conversion.
Carson tried an onside kick, but Cox Mill made the recovery to seal victory.
Rhyan Johnson had a fumble recovery for the Cougars. Jake Taylor blocked a field goal.
•••
South Rowan topped East Rowan, 28-22.
Demarcus Blackwell scored on a 60-yard screen pass and a 12-yard run.
Kory Moss had TD catches of 55 and 14 yards.
Drew Huffman threw three TD passes and scored on a 2-point conversion.
South’s defense also registered a safety.
Standouts for East Rowan were Steven Deutsch and Malachi Johnson on defense and Logan Forbis and Aaron Vandenberg on offense.
•••
Davie County’s jayvees outscored Parkland, 45-40.

Prep tennis
Laura Becker won at No. 1 singles (6-4, 6-1), but Davie County lost to Myers Park, 5-1, in the third round of the 4A tennis state playoffs.

Prep volleyball
Cox Mill stayed unbeaten with a 3-1 win over previously unbeaten West Henderson and moved into the 3A state championship game.
Cox Mill, ranked eighth nationally, will be matched up with Chapel Hill (24-5) in the title match on Saturday.

NBA: Cavs win
CLEVELAND — LeBron James scored a season-high 30 points and the reigning NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers stayed undefeated, beating the Boston Celtics 128-122 on Thursday night.
James moved within two points of passing Hakeem Olajuwon for 10th place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. Olajuwon had 26,946 points, a total James will likely surpass Saturday night in Philadelphia.
The Cavaliers are 5-0 for the first time since 1976-77. Kevin Love scored 26 points, also a season high, while Kyrie Irving added 23 for the Cavaliers. Tristan Thompson recorded a double-double in the first half, finishing with 15 points and 14 rebounds.
Isaiah Thomas scored 30 points and Avery Bradley had 26 for the Celtics, who played without two starters, center Al Horford (concussion) and forward Jae Crowder (sprained left ankle).

BUCKS 125, PACERS 106
MILWAUKEE — Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker each had 27 points to lead the Bucks past the Pacers.
Paul George scored 23 points, reserve C.J. Miles added 19, Jeff Teague had 16 and Myles Turner 15, but it wasn’t enough as the Pacers slipped to 0-3 on the road.