HARROGATE, Tenn. -- The 24th-ranked Railsplitters (15-4, 10-3 SAC) will try for their longest winning streak of the season on Saturday at 4 p.m. when they step inside Shuford Gymnasium in Hickory, N.C. for a South Atlantic Conference showdown against the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears (9-9, 8-5 SAC).
 
Lincoln Memorial won its fifth consecutive game on Wednesday night and did so while showing a glimpse of exactly what the team is capable of in a 108-76 destruction of Carson-Newman, who came into the contest with wins in six of its last seven games.
 
Behind five early three-pointers from Cornelius Taylor (Claxton, Ga.), who matched a career-high mark with 18 points in the game, the Railsplitters raced out to a 33-6 lead before the first 10 minutes had even elapsed in the opening half. Lincoln Memorial eventually carried a 35-point lead into the break, making the second half a mere formality. Luquon Choice (Laurens, S.C.) and Chris Perry (Bartow, Fla.) led all players with 28 points apiece in that contest.
 
Along with the outstanding efforts of Choice, Perry and Taylor, junior Dorian Pinson (Greenville, Tenn.) accomplished something that has never been done in the more than 100-year history of the LMU men's basketball program by putting up a triple-double with 10 points, 19 rebounds and 11 assists. That represented just the eighth triple-double in the NCAA Division II this season.
 
That victory not only exorcised the demons from a 111-109 overtime loss at Carson-Newman from back on November 22, but it continued a string of blowout wins for the Railsplitters, who have won their last five games by 17, 21, 22, 37 and 32. LMU's current five-game winning streak is strikingly similar to the one the Railsplitters put together from November 26-December 14, which featured wins by 43, 41, 41, 50 and 12. Lincoln Memorial is looking to do what it couldn't that time around, though, and push the winning streak to six.
 
Lenoir-Rhyne was a part of the Railsplitters' first five-game winning streak this season, as Lincoln Memorial demolished the Bears 91-50 at Tex Turner Arena on November 30. In that landslide, the Railsplitters shot 50 percent from the field, knocked down 13 three-pointers and held the visiting Bears to a dreadful 33.9 percent mark. Lenoir-Rhyne made only seven shots in the second half and scored a mere 20 points.
 
However, the Bears have been playing much-improved basketball since that early-season clash and welcome the Railsplitters to Shuford Gymnasium with wins in four of their last six games. Lenoir-Rhyne had won three consecutive games until suffering a 79-72 loss to Wingate - winners of nine straight games - on Wednesday.
 
The small but mighty senior guard Darrion Evans, who is listed at 5-8 and 145 pounds, is a big reason that the Bears are right in the thick of things in the SAC despite losing their three leading scorers off of last season's team that advanced to the Sweet 16. Evans is powering Lenoir-Rhyne with 14.6 points per game and has been on a tear of late with at least 15 points in six straight games. That includes a 32-point performance against Anderson and a 26-point showing against Queens. 
 
Along with Evans, Reed Lucas is accounting for 13.9 points and 3.9 rebounds per game while shooting 40.3 percent from three-point range. Jalen Variste is contributing 11.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game while shooting 47.2 percent from the field. Jacques Chambers is pitching in 9.1 points and a team-leading 9.3 rebounds per game. Jarvis Calhoun and Billy Bales are also averaging over eight points per game for the Bears.
 
Lincoln Memorial is 17-8 all-time against Lenoir-Rhyne and hasn't lost to the Bears since February 2010, reeling off 14 consecutive wins since the last loss in the series. The Railsplitters have won their last seven games in Hickory, but Shuford Gymnasium has historically been a tough place to play for Lincoln Memorial.
 
Last season's trip to Hickory stands above the rest and is arguably the most dramatic non-postseason game in the history of the LMU men's basketball program, as the Railsplitters and Bears went to four overtimes before a buzzer-beating bucket from consensus All-American Gerel Simmons clinched the 123-122 win for Lincoln Memorial.
 
Prior to that, the Railsplitters escaped with a 12-point win in 2015, a five-point victory in 2014 and a 10-point overtime win in 2013.
 
In November's win over the Bears, Choice led the Railsplitters with 29 points on 10-of-17 shooting, while Trevon Shaw (St. Helena Island, S.C.) scored 12 points off the bench. Perry had 11 points and five rebounds. All told, 11 players scored in the game for the Railsplitters. Ben Zemonek was the only L-R player to hit double figures with 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
 
Tip-off between Lincoln Memorial and Lenoir-Rhyne is set for 4 p.m. in Hickory, N.C. Live stats, video and audio are available at www.LMURailsplitters.com.
 
Five things to watch against Lenoir-Rhyne
1. Lenoir-Rhyne has feasted on the lower half of the South Atlantic Conference and struggled against the upper echelon. Of the Bears' eight SAC wins, six have come against teams in the bottom six, including two against 0-13 Brevard. L-R's five league losses have come against teams with a combined 38-14 SAC record.
 
2. Lenoir-Rhyne is downright bad on the offensive end, ranking 10th in the SAC in points per game with 76.3 and field-goal percentage with a 42.8 percent clip. The Bears can be deadly from deep, though, as they rank second in the SAC in made three-pointers per game with 11.3. Lenoir-Rhyne is also careful with the basketball, leading the league in fewest turnovers per game with 10.7.
 
3. The Bears are a pretty solid defensive unit, ranking fourth in the league in points per game allowed (77.4), fifth in opponent field-goal percentage (44.0) and first in opponent three-point field-goal percentage (31.6).
 
4. Chris Perry and Luquon Choice are ranked sixth and eighth, respectively, in the SAC in points per game. Perry is putting up 17.9 points per game on 68.3 percent shooting and has scored at least 23 points in five of his last seven games. Choice is slinging in 17.1 points per game on 49.7 percent shooting from three and has at least 20 points in seven of his 19 appearances.
 
5. The Bears have won five of their last six games in Hickory. The lone home loss for Lenoir-Rhyne since the start of December was that seven-point setback to Wingate, who is the hottest team in the SAC.