BREVARD, N.C. – Two teams trending in completely opposite directions will meet on Wednesday night when the No. 21 Railsplitters (16-4, 11-3 SAC) invade Boshamer Gymnasium in Brevard, N.C. for an 8 p.m. South Atlantic Conference contest against the Brevard Tornados (2-18, 0-14 SAC).
 
Since dropping an overtime heartbreaker to then No. 3 nationally-ranked Queens on January 9, Lincoln Memorial has ripped off a season-high six straight wins by margins of 17, 21, 22, 37, 32 and 22. In all but one of those six consecutive wins, the Railsplitters have led by at least 30 points, including Saturday's 97-75 beatdown at Lenoir-Rhyne.
 
Lincoln Memorial has managed to spin off that six-game winning streak and win 13 of its last 15 games overall despite battling a variety of injuries to key players. Starting power forward Emanuel Terry (Enterprise, Ala.) hasn't played since December 31, while starting small forward Dorian Pinson (Greenville, S.C.) missed out on Saturday's game at Lenoir-Rhyne, forcing the Railsplitters to implement their sixth different starting lineup of the season.
 
Senior guard Luquon Choice (Laurens, S.C.) and senior center Chris Perry (Bartow, Fla.) have obviously been the main reason the injury-riddled Railsplitters have stayed afloat, as that duo is playing as well as any in the country. Choice had 25 points on a 7-for-10 effort from three against Lenoir-Rhyne to notch his eighth 20-point performance of the season, while Perry had 28 points and 11 rebounds in that win over the Bears to tally his fifth 20-point explosion over the past six games.
 
But along with those two, Lincoln Memorial has been buoyed by the efforts of a couple of unsung heroes, chiefly redshirt-seniors Paul Woodson (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Hunter Spaw (Bean Station, Tenn.).
 
Woodson made just the eighth start of his career on Saturday and put forth a solid impression of Dorian Pinson, recording 10 points, nine rebounds and a career-best seven assists in 32 minutes of work. It marked the fifth time Woodson reached double-figure points this season. Spaw, meanwhile, tallied eight points and five assists against the Bears in 26 minutes off the bench. The Bean Station, Tenn. native has tallied at least 12 points in three games and is shooting 40.3 percent from three-point range.
 
While the Railsplitters remain in the mix to win their fifth consecutive SAC regular-season title due in large part to their depth, Brevard has had a season to forget due to their lack of it. The Tornados, who cobbled together a roster without scholarships while making the transition to the NCAA Division III, have lost eight consecutive games and 13 of their last 14 overall and are currently winless in SAC play.
 
Brevard was competitive early in the season while junior guard Evan Dunham (12.7 points per game) was playing, but it's been a struggle for the Tornados since he was injured in the first meeting against Lincoln Memorial, which the Railsplitters won 100-50 at Tex Turner Arena. During their current eight-game losing streak, the Tornados have lost by 15 to Anderson, 35 at Catawba, 15 to Carson-Newman, 19 to Newberry, 14 at Mars Hill, five to Lenoir-Rhyne, 15 at Tusculum and 20 at Coker in their most recent outing.
 
The numbers don't paint a pretty picture. Brevard is ranked last in the SAC in points per game with 65.1, field-goal percentage with a 39.6 percent mark and field goals made per game with 21.7. The Tornados are also the worst rebounding team in the league, averaging a league-low 29 rebounds per game while getting outrebounded by an average of 7.2 boards per game. In SAC play, opponents are shooting 50 percent and scoring 83.8 points per game against the vulnerable Brevard defense.
 
In the absence of Dunham, junior guard Stevie Williams is far and away Brevard's best offensive threat, as he is leading the team with 17.9 points per game on 42.9 percent shooting while adding 4.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. Junior Shelby Parris is chipping in 11.2 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, while senior Omar El Diraoui is adding 8.9 points and a team-high 5.5 rebounds per game. D.J. Bostick has started all 20 games and is contributing 7.5 points and 3.7 boards per appearance.
 
Lincoln Memorial is 19-3 all-time against Brevard and hasn't lost to the Tornados since February 2011, reeling off 12 straight wins since suffering an 82-77 loss at Boshamer Gymnasium.  Of late, the Railsplitters have completely dominated the series, winning the most recent games by margins of 50, 33, 21 and 15.
 
The Railsplitters demoralized the Tornados 100-50 in the first meeting this season back on December 5 at Tex Turner Arena. Lincoln Memorial allowed just 17 first-half points, shot 51.4 percent from the field and held the visitors to 27.1 percent shooting in the 50-point whitewashing. Perry poured in 27 points with nine rebounds, while Choice had 13 and Cornelius Taylor (Claxton, Ga.) notched 12. Williams led Brevard with 15 points on 6-for-16 shooting.
 
Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. on Wednesday in Brevard, N.C. Live stats, video and audio links are available at www.LMURailsplitters.com.  
 
Five things to watch against Brevard
1. Perry, who was selected as the AstroTurf SAC Player of the Week for the second time in three weeks on Monday, could be in line for another huge performance against a Brevard team that doesn't have a player to match his size or skill level. To be fair, that player might not exist at this level, as Perry has dominated since the calendar flipped to 2017, averaging 23.5 points and 8.6 rebounds per game on 73.5 percent shooting over his last eight games. He had 27 points in just 22 minutes of action the last time the two teams squared off.
 
2. Brevard ranks fourth in the South Atlantic Conference in steals per game with 7.8. Williams leads the Tornados in that department with 1.8, while Harry Singh has chipped in 1.4 per.
 
3. It's easy to take the dead-eye shooting of Luquon Choice for granted, but his numbers from three-point range this season are impressive even by his lofty standards. Choice leads the SAC in three-pointers made with 81 and is ranked second in three-point field-goal percentage with a 50.9 percent clip. He only trails his teammate Deshawn Patterson (Lenoir, N.C.) for the SAC lead, but Patterson has attempted 127 fewer threes than Choice. The Laurens, S.C. native is already just 46 triples away from matching Jalen Steele for the program and SAC single-season record.
 
4. The rebounding battle could get ugly on Wednesday night. The Railsplitters lead the SAC in rebounding margin with a plus-9.6 edge, while Brevard is dead last in that category. In the first go-around, the Railsplitters nearly doubled up the Tornados on the backboards, finishing with a 52-30 edge.
 
5. For what it's worth, all three of the Railsplitters' losses to Brevard were on the road. Lincoln Memorial lost at Boshamer Gymnasium in 2011, 2010 and 2006.