HARROGATE, Tenn. – With the regular season officially in the books, the 2016 South Atlantic Conference Championship commences on Wednesday night when the top-seeded and No. 2 nationally-ranked Railsplitters (26-2) welcome the eight-seeded Tusculum Pioneers (14-14) to Tex Turner Arena for quarterfinal round action at 7 p.m. The winner of that game advances to the semifinal round to play the winner of No. 4 Lenoir-Rhyne and No. 5 Newberry on Saturday at Furman's Timmons Arena in Greenville, S.C.
 
Lincoln Memorial polished off the first perfect SAC season in league history and brought the regular season to a close on Saturday evening with a ho-hum 95-73 win over Catawba. The Railsplitters controlled just about every aspect of that game - shooting 48.6 percent from the field, connecting on 13-of-25 from three-point range and allowing just 37 percent shooting - to break the SAC single-season record for conference wins, which was previously set by LMU's 2014-15 squad that went 21-1 in league play. In his final regular-season home game, Gerel Simmons (Accokeek, Md.) led the way with 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting.
 
That victory pushed Lincoln Memorial's winning streak to 16, which trails only St. Thomas Aquinas for the longest active winning streak in the NCAA Division II. It also marked the Railsplitters' 29th straight SAC regular-season victory.
 
Lincoln Memorial's postseason run begins against a familiar opponent in a familiar setting, as the Railsplitters and Pioneers have met in the SAC Championship in three of the last five tournaments. Lincoln Memorial defeated Tusculum on the way to capturing the program's first-ever SAC tournament title in the semifinals in 2011. The Railsplitters also ended the Pioneers' season in the quarterfinals in both 2012 and 2013 at Tex Turner Arena.
 
All told, the Railsplitters have won 17 straight games against Tusculum since their last loss in the series in 2009, but the Pioneers gave Lincoln Memorial fits in both of this season's meetings.
 
When the two teams played at Tex Turner Arena on January 21, the Railsplitters trailed by seven points with a hair under 15 minutes left in regulation, but used a 31-9 run to provide the breathing room necessary to hold off Tusculum late in an 82-77 win. Luquon Choice (Laurens, S.C.) scored 24 points and hit five three-pointers to lift the Railsplitters to victory, while Darius Carter led the Pioneers with 18 points, nine rebounds and eight assists
 
When the two teams ran it back on February 10 in Greeneville, the Railsplitters closed the first half on an 11-2 run, which essentially made the difference in a 103-92 victory. Tusculum shot 41.7 percent in the game, but scored 56 second-half points on 18-for-39 shooting to stay within striking distance for most of the second half. Simmons scored 34 points and dished out five assists, while Dorian Pinson (Greenville, S.C.) had 22 points and eight rebounds. Javon Price led the Pioneers with 30 points in only 21 minutes off the bench.
 
The Pioneers have showed that they can hang with the Railsplitters and are playing with a boatload of confidence right now, too, as Tusculum enters the SAC Championship as winners in four of its last five games with a current three-game winning streak. The Pioneers wrapped up the regular season on Saturday with a signature win, defeating the 12th-ranked Queens Royals 96-89 in double overtime. Price carried Tusculum to victory with 37 points, seven rebounds and six assists. It was Tusculum's second win over a ranked opponent this season, as the Pioneers beat No. 7 King in December.
 
Though the Pioneers' offensive numbers have been rather pedestrian over the course of the entire season, 44.8 percent shooting, 36.7 percent from three and 85.1 points per game, Tusculum has surpassed 90 points in six of its last seven games, including three straight 100-point outbursts from February 17-22. Three-point shooting has helped pave the way for that increase in production, as the Pioneers have hit double-digit threes in four of their last seven games after doing so just four times through the first 21 games of the season.
 
Carter - a 6-2 senior guard - leads the Pioneers with 17.8 points and 3.7 rebounds per game on 47.9 percent shooting. In the interior, 6-10 center Chase Mounce is putting up 13.4 points and a team-best 6.6 rebounds per game on 52.9 percent shooting. Price has hit a team-leading 59 three-pointers to average 12.5 points per game. Zach Davis is chipping in 9.3 points per game, while Kendall Patterson is contributing 9.1 points per game with a team-high 106 assists this season.
 
The Railsplitters are trying to capture their third South Atlantic Conference Championship title in the last six seasons and first since winning it in 2014. Lincoln Memorial has advanced to the championship game of the SAC tournament in four of the last five seasons, including three straight trips to the finals.
 
Complimentary tickets are not available for any of the SAC Championship games. Tickets run $8 for adults, $4 for seniors (55+), youths (12 and under) and active and retired military, and $2 for college students with a valid college ID. The LMU athletics department is sponsoring admission for the first 100 LMU students.
 
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at Tex Turner Arena. Live stats, video and audio links are all available at www.LMURailsplitters.com.