HARROGATE, Tenn. -- The Railsplitters (14-4, 9-3 SAC) and Carson-Newman Eagles (12-6, 9-3 SAC) will add another chapter to one of the richest rivalries in the history of college basketball when the two teams collide for the 203rd time on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. inside of Tex Turner Arena. The game will be broadcast locally on MyVLT.
 
Lincoln Memorial and Carson-Newman head into Wednesday night's pivotal South Atlantic Conference contest tied for second place in the league standings with a combined eight-game winning streak. The Railsplitters and Eagles are two games back of Queens in the race for the SAC regular-season crown.
 
The Railsplitters won their fourth consecutive game on Saturday by blowing out the Coker Cobras 97-60 in Hartsville, S.C. in a game that was called two and a half minutes early after storms knocked out the electricity at the DeLoach Center. Lincoln Memorial was nearly perfect before the storms arrived, shooting 60.3 percent from the field with a 13-for-21 mark from three-point range. On the other end, the Railsplitters held the Cobras to just 32.3 percent shooting, including a dreadful 6-for-23 clip from three. It marked Lincoln Memorial's third straight win over Coker by at least 35 points.  
 
LMU's entire starting five reached double figures and combined for 80 points in the win over the Cobras. Chris Perry (Bartow, Fla.) led that effort with 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting to continue his impressive stretch for the Railsplitters. Perry, who leads the SAC in field-goal percentage with a 68.9 percent clip and points per 40 minutes with 30.2, has scored at least 23 points in four of his last six games. Perry has made at least 60 percent of his shots in 14 consecutive games dating back to the first meeting against Carson-Newman.
 
The Eagles, meanwhile, are one of the hottest teams in the SAC with wins in six of their last seven games. Like Lincoln Memorial, Carson-Newman is playing some of its best basketball of the season of late, winning four consecutive games by an average of 16 points.
 
The Eagles crushed Newberry, who was responsible for one of LMU's four losses this season, 110-91 on Saturday to follow up a 100-77 dismantling of Anderson last Wednesday. Carson-Newman's lone loss over the past month was a two-point loss to Wingate - winners of eight straight games - on January 7.
 
Carson-Newman is ranked second in the SAC and 18th in the nation in field-goal percentage offense (50.4 percent shooting), but the Eagles have taken it to another level on that end of the floor recently, shooting a blistering 69.6 percent against Anderson before converting 59.4 percent of their shots against Newberry. The Eagles shot 80 percent in the second half of that win over Anderson, going 20-for-25 from the field.
 
The Eagles have been carried this season by junior guard Charles Clark and senior center Sawyer Williams, who are ranked two and three in the SAC in scoring and are combining for over 40 points per game.
 
Clark is one of the most dynamic players in the country, averaging 21.2 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game on 56.2 percent shooting and a 46 percent mark from three-point range. Clark, who was selected as the AstroTurf SAC Player of the Week on Monday, has scored at least 26 points in his last three appearances.
 
Williams is a workhorse on the block that is averaging 18.9 points and 7.4 rebounds per game while shooting 61.3 percent from the field, the fourth-best mark in the SAC. Williams has tallied at least 20 points in four of his last five appearances.
 
Carson-Newman surrounds one of the best inside-out duos in the nation with a deeply talented flock of complimentary pieces in Malik Abraham, Shaun Jones, Zack Pangallo and Mason Bates. Abraham has put up 13.2 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game and knocked down 48 three-pointers on a 37.8 percent clip. Jones is a double-double waiting to happen with 13.2 points and a team-leading 9.6 rebounds per game on 56.3 percent shooting, while Pangallo (6.9 points per) and Bates (6.8 points per) are solid contributors.
 
Lincoln Memorial and Carson-Newman is one of the longest-running and most fiercely contested rivalries in college basketball. The two programs have faced off 202 times since the initial meeting in 1923 and the all-time series is currently all knotted up at 101-101. Home court has played a tremendous role in the series, as LMU is 57-40 against Carson-Newman in Harrogate, while the Eagles are 58-40 in Jefferson City.
 
The first meeting between the Railsplitters and Eagles this season was one for the ages, as the November 22nd clash in Holt Fieldhouse featured 18 ties and 22 lead changes. Neither team led by more than seven points, while the lead changed hands five times in the final 2:18 alone before some late heroics by both sides sent Lincoln Memorial and Carson-Newman to overtime for the first time since 2007. 
 
The Eagles raced out to a five-point lead in the overtime before the Railsplitters rallied to tie it up on a putback lay-up from Paul Woodson (Cincinnati, Ohio) in the closing seconds. However, Carson-Newman quickly inbounded the ball and Abraham buried an 18-footer as time expired to give the Eagles a stunning 111-109 overtime triumph.
 
Both teams excelled on the offensive end. The Railsplitters shot 58.3 percent and went 8-for-12 from three, while Carson-Newman shot 49.4 percent, made seven of its 13 three-point tries and went 26-for-30 at the charity stripe.
 
Luquon Choice (Laurens, S.C.) led the Railsplitters with 25 points on a 5-for-6 effort from three, while Dorian Pinson (Greenville, S.C.) collected 22 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Emanuel Terry (Enterprise, Ala.), who hasn't played since December 31, notched 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Cornelius Taylor (Claxton, Ga.) notched 13 points.
 
Clark had 26 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals for the Eagles, while Jones produced a monster double-double with 26 points and 11 boards. Williams put up 18 points and eight rebounds. Abraham scored 15 points in 23 minutes off the bench, including the game-winning jumper as time expired.
 
Tip-off between Lincoln Memorial and Carson-Newman is set for 8 p.m. on Wednesday night. The game will be broadcast locally on MyVLT, while fans can also follow the game via video or live stats at www.LMURailsplitters.com.
 
Five things to watch against Carson-Newman:
1. The match-up between Lincoln Memorial's Perry and Carson-Newman's Williams will be key to the outcome of Wednesday's contest. Both have been nearly unstoppable this season. Perry is shooting 68.9 percent and scoring 17.3 points per game, while Williams is accounting for nearly 19 points per game on 61.3 percent shooting. Perry played just 20 minutes in the first game against Carson-Newman.
 
2. It's easier said than done, but the Railsplitters will have to find a way to slow down Charles Clark in order to beat the Eagles. Clark has consistently played well against Lincoln Memorial, putting up 26 points earlier this season after scoring 36 points in last season's meeting at Holt Fieldhouse. When the Eagles beat the Railsplitters at Tex Turner Arena back in February 2015, Clark exploded for 30 points on 11-of-17 shooting.
 
3. The Eagles don't have any glaring weaknesses. They are ranked second in the SAC in free-throw attempts per game and third in free-throw percentage. On the glass, Carson-Newman is ranked second in the league behind Lincoln Memorial in rebounding margin with a plus-6.7 edge. If you want to get nitpicky, the Eagles are a middle-of-the-pack defensive team that allows 82.9 points per game on 44.8 percent shooting.
 
4. Rebounding will play a big role in Wednesday's outcome as well with the No. 1 and 2 rebounding teams in the conference squaring off. The Eagles outrebounded the Railsplitters 39-36 in the first meeting this season and grabbed 13 offensive boards that led to 12 second-chance points. That rebounding edge allowed Carson-Newman to attempt seven more shots than the Railsplitters. 
 
5. Carson-Newman has won three consecutive road games and is 5-1 away from Holt Fieldhouse this season. The Eagles' last road loss came at the hands of Lenoir-Rhyne on December 17.