GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The top-seeded and No. 2 nationally-ranked Railsplitters (27-2) will try to book their fourth straight trip to the South Atlantic Conference Championship title game on Saturday when they square off against the five-seeded Newberry Wolves (18-11) in semifinal round action at 5:30 p.m. at Furman's Timmons Arena in Greenville, S.C.
 
Lincoln Memorial opened postseason play by throttling the eight-seeded Tusculum Pioneers 101-75 in the SAC Championship's quarterfinal round on Wednesday night at Tex Turner Arena, as the Railsplitters extended their winning streak to 17 games overall and notched their 23rd straight win against a SAC opponent. Gerel Simmons (Accokeek, Md.), Luquon Choice (Laurens, S.C.) and Jalen Steele (Knoxville, Tenn.), who were each arrayed with All-SAC honors on Thursday, led the charge in that contest by combining for 75 points. Simmons scored a game-high 27 points, while Choice and Steele added 24 points apiece. A stingy second-half defensive effort also helped LMU's cause, as Tusculum went just 8-for-28 from the field over the final 20 minutes.
 
While the Railsplitters held serve, Newberry pulled off a mild upset on Wednesday night to clinch its spot in the SAC semifinals, beating the fourth-seeded and regionally-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne Bears 98-90 in Hickory, N.C. Lenoir-Rhyne hit 17 three-pointers in that game, but the Wolves went 28-for-32 at the free-throw line as compared to the Bears' 7-for-15 effort to fuel the win. Newberry led by as many as 19 points in the second half and never trailed by more than six points.
 
The Railsplitters swept the regular-season series from Newberry to extend their winning streak over the Wolves to seven games. Lincoln Memorial has actually won 12 of the last 13 meetings in the series overall, and that includes the only SAC Tournament showdown between the two teams, as the Railsplitters defeated the Wolves 97-76 in the semifinals of the 2014 SAC Tournament en route to capturing their second-ever tournament championship.
 
Lincoln Memorial and Newberry are ranked second and third in the nation in scoring, respectively. The Railsplitters are averaging 96.1 points per game on the nation's second-best field-goal percentage (51.5), while the Wolves are putting up 94.9 points per game on 45.1 percent shooting. While the two teams' offensive numbers are neck-and-neck, Lincoln Memorial and Newberry couldn't be more different on the defensive side of the ball. The Railsplitters are ranked 26th in the country and first in the SAC by holding opponents to 41.1 percent shooting, while Newberry is ranked 276th in that department by allowing 47.9 percent shooting.
 
The Railsplitters took advantage of Newberry's defensive vulnerability in both meetings this season, averaging 111 points per game on 57 percent shooting with an otherworldly 36-for-58 mark (52.9 percent) from three-point territory. Lincoln Memorial needed just about every bit of that offensive production, too, as Newberry averaged 95.5 points per game and went 26-for-54 (48.1 percent) from three in those two contests.
 
The Railsplitters won this season's first meeting 115-94 at Newberry right before Christmas break. Steele put Lincoln Memorial on his back in that one, hitting a program record 10 three-pointers on his way to scoring a career-high 40 points. The Railsplitters shot 65.7 percent from the field in that contest, which is the fourth-highest single-game field-goal percentage in program history.
 
When the two teams met again just a short while back on February 13, the Railsplitters defeated the Wolves 107-97 at Tex Turner Arena, as Choice matched Steele by hitting 10 three-pointers. He and Simmons led that effort, which saw Newberry score 64 second-half points and cut the deficit to as little as five points with six minutes left, with 32 points apiece.
 
Lincoln Memorial has scored at least 90 points in eight of the last nine games against Newberry. Of the program's 25 best ever single-game shooting performance, three have come at the expense of the Wolves.
 
The Wolves are led by senior Xavier Holmes' 14.9 points and 6.2 rebounds per game on 57.4 percent shooting. Holmes - a 6-5 forward - is one of four Newberry players averaging double figures, as Mitch Riggs is putting up 13.2 points per game on 45.1 percent shooting, Brandon Taylor is contributing 11.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per game on a 46.9 percent mark, and James Stepp is adding 10.3 points and 2.1 three-pointers per game.
 
In this season's meeting at Newberry, Holmes paced the Wolves with 15 points and 11 rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench, while Taylor had 14 points in 19 minutes. In the game at Tex Turner, Riggs scored 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting, while Holmes added 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting.
 
Tip-off between Lincoln Memorial and Newberry is set for 5:30 p.m. on Saturday at Furman's Timmons Arena in Greenville, S.C. The winner advances to Sunday's SAC Championship title game to face the winner of No. 2 Queens and No. 3 Wingate at 4 p.m. Live stats and video links are available at www.LMURailsplitters.com.