HARROGATE, Tenn. – The No. 2 Railsplitters (17-1, 11-0 SAC) will try to beat rival Tusculum for the 23rd consecutive time when they return to Tex Turner Arena to face the struggling Pioneers (5-13, 3-8 SAC) at 8 p.m. on Wednesday night. In its first home game in nearly three weeks, Lincoln Memorial is also putting a 25-game SAC winning streak on the line, which is the second-longest streak of its kind in league history.
 
The Railsplitters have not lost to Tusculum this decade, stringing together 22 straight wins over the Pioneers since their last loss in the series on February 4, 2009. Lincoln Memorial has completely overpowered Tusculum in recent seasons, winning 11 of the last 12 matchups by double figures. That includes a 91-73 win for the Railsplitters when the two teams met for the first time this season back on November 29 in Greeneville.
 
Lincoln Memorial heads into Wednesday night's matchup playing some solid basketball. The Railsplitters remained perfect in SAC play despite a brutal three-game road trek that took them to No. 1 Queens, No. 18 Carson-Newman and Catawba. LMU handed previously unbeaten Queens its first loss of the season 73-72, snapped Carson-Newman's 15-game home winning by tagging the Eagles with their worst home loss ever 108-69, and most recently cruised past injury-ravaged Catawba 90-61.
 
The Railsplitters relied on their dominant defense to extend the nation's longest road winning streak to 17 games, as LMU held all three opponents during that stretch below 39 percent shooting from the field and less than 28 percent shooting from three. That has mostly been the case all season, though, as the Railsplitters lead the SAC in opponent field-goal percentage (36.6) and three-point percentage (31.3).
 
Lincoln Memorial now returns to Harrogate for the first time since beating Coker on January 6, when the Railsplitters extended their home winning streak to 16 games.
 
Tusculum will be trying to get its season back on the tracks and beat the Railsplitters for the first time in Harrogate since 2005 when the Pioneers drop in Tex Turner Arena on Wednesday night.
 
The Pioneers have lost four of their last five games and are 2-8 over their last 10 games, a stretch that has dropped Tusculum into ninth place in the league standings, meaning that the Pioneers would be out of the SAC Championship field if the season ended today.
 
Tusculum has been the victim of a multitude of close losses. The Pioneers suffered a one-point loss at Anderson and Wingate, a three-point overtime loss to Coker, a five-point loss to Carson-Newman, a seven-point overtime loss at Lenoir-Rhyne and a three-point loss to Barton.
 
Defense has been the primary issue for the Pioneers, who are surrendering the second-most points per game in the league at 86.0 per game. In addition to that, opponents are shooting 47.2 percent from the field and 40.4 percent from three against Tusculum this season. The team is also second-to-last in the league in rebounding margin (-5.1).
 
Tusculum's offense has been middling – 79.8 points per game, 43.4 percent shooting, 11.6 threes per game – and that has not been nearly good enough to make up the deficit caused by its shaky defense.
 
Junior guards Donovan Donaldson and Peyton Woods lead the Pioneer attack with 13.9 and 13.8 points per game, respectively. Senior Ronnie Baylark is contributing 10.8 points per game and shooting 46 percent from the field, while junior Zach Hartle has chipped in 8.9 points per game on 52.6 percent shooting. Nobody is averaging more than five rebounds per outing for the Pioneers. Sophomore Caleb Hodnett leads the way with 4.9.
 
In the first meeting between the two teams, the Railsplitters built a commanding 53-21 lead at the break before taking their foot off the gas in the second half to capture a 91-73 victory. Trevon Shaw led the way for LMU with 21 points, while Emanuel Terry, the reigning AstroTurf SAC Player of the Week, posted a double-double with 20 points, 11 rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Josh Odem added 14 points and nine rebounds.
 
Hartle led Tusculum with 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting, while Malik Tyree contributed 10 points in 11 minutes off the bench to stand as the only other Pioneer with double figures.
 
Tip-off between Lincoln Memorial and Tusculum is set for 8 p.m. in Tex Turner Arena. Live stats and video is available at www.lmurailsplitters.com, while fans can also listen along with Voice of the Railsplitters Rusty Peace at WLMU 91.3 The Gap.
 
Quick Hits
 
- The Railsplitters and Pioneers played twice at Tex Turner Arena last season. LMU won the regular-season matchup 87-67 and later ended Tusculum's season in the SAC Championship quarterfinals, 88-71. The Railsplitters have won 15 straight over Tusculum in Harrogate.
 
- Terry is close to joining the 1,000-point club for the Railsplitters. The 6-9 senior needs just 78 points to become the 29th player in program history to score 1,000 career points and the second this season (Pinson).
 
- Shaw has already buried the ninth-most three-pointers in the program's single-season history with 84. With 16 more, he would become the third player to hit 100 in program history.