HARROGATE, Tenn. – The No. 4/3 Railsplitters (2-0) look to continue their dominant start to the 2017-18 campaign when they play the first of back-to-back games against the Shorter Hawks (0-3) and open Tex Turner Arena at 4 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
 
Lincoln Memorial started 2-0 for the ninth time in 10 seasons under head coach Josh Schertz this past weekend, and did so in convincing fashion with two wins by a combined 54 points in the South Atlantic Conference vs. Conference Carolinas Challenge, which was hosted by Lees-McRae in Banner Elk, N.C.
 
The Railsplitters kicked things off with a 100-80 win over the host Bobcats on Friday night. Lees-McRae made life difficult for Lincoln Memorial in the second half, cutting the deficit to six points with eight minutes to go before the Railsplitters ended the game on a 25-11 run to improve to 9-0 in the all-time series. LMU held Lees-McRae to 37 percent shooting in the opening half and led by 17 at the break, but the Bobcats kicked in 53 percent of their shots in the second half while the Railsplitters battled through massive foul trouble.
 
The second game of the weekend was a much different story as the Railsplitters put together a complete performance in a 94-60 woodshedding of the King Tornado on Saturday afternoon. Lincoln Memorial, who led by as many as 47 points in the most lopsided win in the series since 1989, shot 55 percent in the contest, including a 70 percent mark in the first half, and held the Tornado to 31 percent shooting. The Railsplitters led by 36 points at the half and allowed just seven first-half baskets.
 
Senior forward Emanuel Terry earned AstroTurf SAC Player of the Week honors after averaging 18.5 points and 15.0 rebounds per game on 67 percent shooting over the weekend. The Enterprise, Ala. native put in 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting while scarfing up a career-high 21 rebounds in just 24 minutes of action against Lees-McRae, and followed that up with a 15-point, nine-rebound effort against King. Terry's impressive performance against Lees-McRae was just the 11th 20-rebound performance in the history of the LMU men's basketball program and the first since Dorian Pinson accomplished that feat in a four-overtime win at Lenoir-Rhyne in 2015.
 
Terry's 22-point, 21-rebound effort wasn't the only bonkers outing by a Railsplitter last weekend, as senior guard Trevon Shaw tied a program record by kicking in 10 three-pointers to score a career-high 34 points in the win over King. Shaw scored 22 of his 34 points in the first half to account for more points and field goals than King's entire team over that span.
 
It's a small sample size, but the Railsplitters are currently leading the SAC in points per game with 97, field goals made per game with 36, field goals attempted per game with 71, assists per game with 19.5 and rebound margin per game with 12.5. Lincoln Memorial is shooting 51 percent from the field while holding opponents to a 38 percent clip.
 
Including Shaw (24.0) and Terry (18.5), five players are averaging double-digit points per game for the Railsplitters along with Dorian Pinson (15.0), Cornelius Taylor (13.0) and Kamaran Calhoun (10.0), who destroyed his previous career-high with an 18-point outburst in 27 minutes off the bench against Lees-McRae. Pinson posted a near triple-double against King with 17 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.
 
While Lincoln Memorial has enjoyed a 2-0 start with an average margin of victory of 27 points, Shorter makes the trip to Harrogate and Tex Turner Arena with hopes of pulling off a stunning upset and getting its first win of the season. The Hawks are 0-3 after suffering a 60-52 loss to Lemoyne-Owen, a 73-70 loss to Spring Hill and most recently an 87-74 setback at Flagler.
 
The Hawks went 17-12 last season and finished sixth in the Gulf South Conference with an 11-11 league record, but this is nowhere near the same team. Shorter lost 64 combined points per game off of last season's team with the departure of Phil Taylor, who led the nation in scoring in 2016-17 with 34 points per game, Damerit Brown, Eric Ross and Alijah Bennett.
 
Those losses have made an obvious and significant impact on the Hawks' offensive output so far this season. After averaging 86 points per game and shooting 45 percent from the field last season, Shorter is putting up just 65 points per game on 38.9 percent shooting through the first three games of this season. That includes a dismal 29 percent mark from three. 
 
Only seven players have made an appearance for the Hawks this season. Amonte Potter leads the team with 18 points per game on 36 percent shooting, while Josh Burnett is putting up 12.7 points per game on a 35 percent clip. TayVaughn Major is the team's most efficient scorer, averaging 11.7 points per game on 50 percent shooting.
 
The Hawks, who do not have a player taller than 6-5 on the roster, are getting outrebounded by an average of 25 boards per game with a total margin of 150-74 so far this season. On top of that, Shorter is allowing opponents to shoot 46 percent.
 
Lincoln Memorial has been nearly unbeatable at home during Schertz's tenure, compiling a 128-13 record in his 10-year career, good for a winning percentage of nearly 91 percent. The Railsplitters haven't lost a regular-season game against a nonconference opponent since suffering a 76-74 overtime loss against Ohio Valley on December 9, 2008.
 
Saturday will serve as the first all-time meeting between Lincoln Memorial and Shorter, but the two teams will play again on Tuesday night when the Railsplitters make the return trip to Rome, Ga. for the second of back-to-back matchups.
 
Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. on Saturday at Tex Turner Arena. Live stats and video links will be available at www.lmurailsplitters.com, while fans can also tune into WLMU 91.3 The Gap for a play-by-play call with Voice of the Railsplitters Rusty Peace.