MARS HILL, N.C. – The 15th-ranked Railsplitters (20-4, 15-3 SAC) begin the final stretch of the regular season on Wednesday night when they invade Stanford Arena to face the Mars Hill Lions (5-19, 3-15 SAC) in South Atlantic Conference men's hoops action at 8 p.m. Lincoln Memorial enters that contest riding a 10-game winning streak and in second place in the league standings, while Mars Hill is coming off of a 41-point loss to Queens, which dropped the Lions to 2-16 in their last 18 games.
 
The Railsplitters reached the 20-win mark for the eighth consecutive season and notched their eighth winning streak of at least 10 games of the Schertz era on Saturday with a 92-85 win at Newberry. Over the course of that contest, Lincoln Memorial authored a 30-point turnaround, as the Wolves couldn't miss early on and raced out to as large as a 23-point lead at 37-14 with 7:45 left in the first half.
 
The Railsplitters closed the first half on a 17-3 run to cut the deficit to 46-39 at the break and, after trailing by as many as 14 points in the second half, took their first lead of the game with 2:31 left in regulation. A late block by Emanuel Terry (Enterprise, Ala.) followed by a Trevon Shaw (St. Helena Island, S.C.) bucket on the other end sealed the epic comeback for the Railsplitters, who also avenged a 107-102 loss to Newberry from back on December 17 in the process.
 
Redshirt-senior guard Luquon Choice (Laurens, S.C.) was magnificent yet again, racking up a game-high 33 points on a 7-for-13 mark from three-point range to surpass 30 points for the second time in three games. Shaw added 22 points on 8-for-14 shooting, while Terry posted 11 points and tied a career-high mark with 15 rebounds in 29 minutes off the bench.
 
That thrilling come-from-behind victory kept the Railsplitters within one game of first-place Queens in the SAC standings. Lincoln Memorial – winners of four consecutive SAC regular-season titles – hosts the Royals on Saturday in a game that could decide whether the Railsplitters can make it five straight.
 
But in order for Saturday's game to take on that level of significance, the Railsplitters will need to get by a scrappy Mars Hill squad that has come up just short in a ton of close games. The Lions have lost 14 of their last 16 games overall, but seven of those losses were decided by fewer than 10 points, including a four-point loss to Newberry, a four-point loss to Catawba, a five-point loss at Anderson and an overtime loss to Tusculum.
 
However, Mars Hill is coming off of a dismal showing against No. 6 Queens, who shot 60 percent from the field, knocked down 11 three-pointers and ran the Lions out of their own gym with a 119-78 victory on Saturday. Mars Hill allowed 60 points in the first half and trailed by 22 points at the break before being outscored 59-40 in the second stanza.
 
Offense has been hard to come by for the Lions, who are ranked 11th in the 12-team SAC in scoring with 76 points per game and ninth in field-goal percentage with a 43.3 percent clip. Mars Hill is shooting just 31.8 percent from three-point range while getting to the free-throw line 19.2 times per game, the second-lowest mark in the league.
 
The Lions have had their issues on the other end of the floor as well, allowing the third-most points per game in the league with 85.8 while giving up 48.7 percent shooting. Opponents are also hitting 35.9 percent of their threes against Mars Hill. To make matters worse, the Lions are ranked 11th in the SAC in fouls per game with 21.3.
 
Mars Hill isn't carried by one or two dominant offensive players, but instead feature a slew of guys averaging at least six points per game. Sophomore guard Vernon Jackson leads the Lions with 11.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per game while shooting 48 percent from the floor. Junior Bennett Wilson is also averaging double figures with 10.3 points per game. Valentin Bauer (8.9), Brandon Watkins (6.2), Justin Hartfield (6.2) and Charles Moore (6.2) are also among that group of players contributing at least six points per game for the Lions.
 
Lincoln Memorial will have a tremendous size advantage against the Lions, whose tallest player is the 6-8 Grant Clarke and 6-7 Dotson Griffin. Clarke has played just 105 total minutes this season, while Griffin is accounting for 5.5 points and 4.8 rebounds per game over 21 appearances.
 
The Lions' underwhelming height across the board has affected them in the rebounding department. Mars Hill is ranked 10th in the SAC in total rebounds per game (35.5) and ninth in rebounding margin (-4.3).
 
The Railsplitters own a commanding 31-9 record all-time against Mars Hill and haven't lost to the Lions since January 2010. Since that time, Lincoln Memorial has reeled off 15 straight wins in the series. None have been particularly close, either, as the last game decided by fewer than 10 points happened in February 2011.
 
The Railsplitters rocked the Lions 93-64 in the first meeting this season back on January 4 inside of Tex Turner Arena. In that contest, LMU shot 51 percent and went 11-for-28 from three-point range, while Mars Hill shot 38.6 percent and trailed by 20 points at the half. Chris Perry (Bartow, Fla.) led all players with 23 points, while Dorian Pinson (Greenville, S.C.) had 15 points and 10 rebounds. Bauer led the Lions with 16 points.
 
Tip-off between Lincoln Memorial and Mars Hill is set for 8 p.m. on Wednesday night at Stanford Arena. Live stats, video and audio links are available at www.LMURailsplitters.com.
 
Five things to watch against Mars Hill
1. The Railsplitters haven't lost in Stanford Arena since January 2009 and sport a 14-5 away record in the series. Lincoln Memorial crushed the Lions 120-84 in last season's road game. The season before that, the Railsplitters won by 39 points at Mars Hill.
 
2. Choice needs 13 three-pointers to become the first player in SAC or program history to hit 400 for his career. As a note, the NCAA Division II career record is 451, which was established by Montana State Billings' Cameron Munoz from 2003-06.
 
3. Terry has been on a roll since returning from a nine-game absence, scoring double figures in all three games. He had 13 points against both Wingate and Tusculum while combining for 13 rebounds and a pair of blocks. Against Newberry, he tallied his sixth double-double of the season with 11 points and 15 rebounds.
 
4. Perry will be looking to bounce back from his worst game of the season, as he was held to a season-low three points in just 11 minutes of action at Newberry. Prior to that, he had been held to single figures just one time, a nine-point performance at Virginia-Wise.
 
5. Mars Hill isn't a good rebounding team, but create a decent amount of second chances by pulling down an average of 12.7 offensive rebounds per game. That is the fourth-highest mark in the SAC. The Lions had 13 offensive rebounds in the first game against LMU.