GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 4 Railsplitters (5-0) begin the quest to win their sixth consecutive South Atlantic Conference regular-season title when Lincoln Memorial invades Pioneer Arena to face the Tusculum Pioneers (2-4) for the 174th time and open SAC play on Wednesday night.
 
The Railsplitters – 7-2 in SAC openers under head coach Josh Schertz – have won five straight conference titles and six of the last seven overall. Lincoln Memorial was picked to finish second behind Queens in the coaches preseason poll. The Railsplitters and Queens are two of the three remaining unbeaten teams left in the conference along with Carson-Newman.
 
Lincoln Memorial moved to 5-0 for the first time since the 2014-15 team won its first 20 games on Saturday with a 106-75 whitewashing of the Virginia-Wise Cavaliers. The Railsplitters trailed 45-44 early in the second half before outscoring the Cavaliers by 32 points over the final 18 minutes to pick up their fifth consecutive win by 20 points or more to open the 2017-18 season.
 
Senior forward Emanuel Terry continued to flourish for the Railsplitters, leading the team with 22 points - his third 20-point game of the season - to go along with eight rebounds. Dorian Pinson added 20 points and 12 rebounds to nab his second double-double of the season, while three other players finished in double figures.
 
The Railsplitters scored 62 points in the second half, representing the program's highest point total in a half since a 67-point half against Newberry in December 2015. With the win, Lincoln Memorial will now be aiming for its fifth 6-0 start of the decade when it faces Tusculum on Wednesday night.
 
After a rocky 2016-17 campaign when the Pioneers went 12-17 overall and tied for eighth place in the SAC, Tusculum installed former King associate head coach Nick Pasqua as its 27th men's basketball coach in school history to replace Mike Jones, who went 53-115 in his six seasons in Greeneville.
 
The Pasqua era got off to a shaky start with a 101-94 loss to King and a 119-86 setback at Lees-McRae – two teams the Railsplitters beat by a combined 54 points in the opening week of the season. The Pioneers then fell to 0-3 with an 83-67 loss at Lee.
 
However, Tusculum has won two of its last three games with a nail-biting 69-67 win at Belmont Abbey and most recently an 86-85 triumph over Columbus State, which came compliments of a late go-ahead three-pointer from Zach Hartle.
 
The Pioneers have been unspectacular but solid offensively, averaging 80 points per game on 43 percent shooting and a 38 percent mark from three-point range. Tusculum is also ranked second in the league in three-point attempts with an average of nearly 32 per game.
 
But Tusculum has struggled desperately on the defensive end, allowing over 90 points per game on 51 percent shooting, which includes a SAC-worst 48 percent shooting from three-point territory. The Pioneers are also accounting for the fewest rebounds per game in the SAC with 32.7 and are getting outrebounding by nearly five boards per game.
 
Four players are averaging double figures for the Pioneers. Junior UT-Chattanooga transfer Peyton Woods leads that quartet with 16.8 points per game, while Trevecca Nazarene transfer Donovan Donaldson is contributing 14.2 points per game on 52 percent shooting to go along with a team-high 3.3 assists per game. Ronnie Baylark and Hartle are chipping in 10.7 points and 10.0 points per game, respectively.
 
No player is averaging more than five rebounds per game for the Pioneers. 6-7 freshman forward Brandon Mitchell leads the team with 4.5, while 6-8 sophomore Caleb Hodnett is adding 4.3.
 
The Railsplitters are 131-42 all time against Tusculum with a streak of 21 straight wins in the series, far and away the longest streak for either team in a series that dates all the way back to 1930. The Pioneers haven't beaten LMU since February 2009, while the Railsplitters are 22-1 against Tusculum under Schertz.
 
Tip off between the Railsplitters and Pioneers is set for 8 p.m. inside of Pioneer Arena. Live stats and video links will be available at www.lmurailsplitters.com. Fans can also listen along with Voice of the Railsplitters Rusty Peace at WLMU 91.3 The Gap.
 
Quick Hits
 
- Tusculum's last four wins in the series have occurred in Greeneville in 2009, 2008, 2007 and 2005. The Railsplitters are 48-31 on the road in the series compared to 76-11 at home.
 
- Lincoln Memorial ended Tusculum's last two seasons in the SAC Championship quarterfinals. The Railsplitters beat the Pioneers 88-71 in 2017 and 101-75 in 2016.
 
- Terry is currently leading the SAC in field goals (44), total rebounds (62) and rebounds per game (12.4) while ranking second in points per game with 20.8 and third in field-goal percentage with a ridiculous 69.6 percent clip.
 
- The Railsplitters claim the league's second-best defensive unit by allowing 68.8 points per game on 39 percent shooting. On the other side of the court, Lincoln Memorial is leading the league in points per game with 95.2.