HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lincoln Memorial men's basketball team opens South Atlantic Conference play at Tex Turner Arena on Wednesday night with the 208th all-time meeting against the rival Carson-Newman Eagles. 
 
Tip-off between the Railsplitters (3-2) and undefeated Eagles (5-0) is set for 8 p.m. Live stats, video and audio links are available at www.lmurailsplitters.com, while fans can also follow along with live updates via the official LMU athletics Twitter account, @LMURailsplitter. 
 
Notes on Carson-Newman 
 
- The Eagles have won their first five games by an average of nearly 14 points. Carson-Newman most recently defeated Tennessee Wesleyan 81-73 in Jefferson City on November 21. Prior to that, C-N played its most closely contested game of the season in an 87-86 triumph over King. 
- Carson-Newman has been outstanding offensively this season, scoring an average of 84 points per game while shooting 54 percent from the field. The Eagles have also bagged over nine three-pointers per game on a 40 percent mark. 
- In the wake of former All-American Charles Clark's graduation, seniors Grant Teichmann and Mason Bates have carried the load offensively for the Eagles. Teichmann has poured in 18.6 points, 7.0 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game while shooting an absurd 70.5 percent from the field and 64 percent from three. Bates has pitched in 15.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game on 46.9 percent shooting. 
- Six other players are contributing at least 5.0 points per game for the Eagles across a minimum of four appearances. That group includes Reece Anderson (8.8ppg), Chris Clayton (7.8ppg), Malik Abraham (7.0ppg), Cameron Andre (6.8ppg), Parker Role' (5.8ppg) and Cameron Holmes (5.6ppg). 
- Abraham was the Eagles' lone preseason All-SAC selection, earning a spot on the first team. So far, the senior has fallen short of matching his numbers from last season, when he scored 11.7 points per game while knocking down a team-best 88 triples. Abraham has reached double figures in just one of his five appearances, but still ranks second on the team with 11 threes. 
- Carson-Newman has outrebounded its opponents by an average of nearly five boards per game. The Eagles have been a bit turnover prone, though, committing over 16 per contest. 
- C-N has started 5-0 for the second consecutive season. It marks the first time the program has accomplished that feat since the 1972-73 and 1973-74 teams started 5-0 in back-to-back seasons. 
- The Eagles have won 12 consecutive games in November and are looking for their second straight 6-0 start. C-N last lost in November to Johnson C. Smith in 2016. 
- C-N ranks fifth in the country in field-goal percentage, sixth in assists per game with 20.6 and eighth in three-point field-goal defense by limiting opponents to a 25.4 percent mark from behind the arc. 
 
Last Time Out 
 
Despite a mostly lackluster overall performance, the Railsplitters strung together back-to-back wins for the first time in 2018-19 with an 87-77 win at Virginia-Wise on Saturday in Wise, Va. Lincoln Memorial made enough timely runs in the second half, outscoring the home team 50-43 to defeat the Cavaliers for the sixth consecutive time. 
 
Five players combined to account for 81 of the Railsplitters' 87 points, led by a career-high 20 points from freshman Julius Brown. Alex Dahling added 19 points with six triples, while Kamaran Calhoun went 5-for-8 from the field and 9-of-11 at the free-throw line to score 19. Anthony Brown had a near triple-double with 13 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, while Cornelius Taylor chipped in 10 points. 
 
For the third time in five games, Lincoln Memorial failed to shoot over 40 percent, going 29-for-73 from the field, which included a 26 percent mark from three-point territory (8-for-31). 
 
Figuring It Out Offensively 
 
The Railsplitters are continuing to search for what works best offensively with a cast of new players in the rotation. So far, three different players have led Lincoln Memorial in scoring.  
 
Taylor has led the way in three of the team's five games and paces the Railsplitters with 19.0 points per game, though he is shooting only 35 percent from the field and three-point territory. Following his 20-point outburst, Julius Brown is second on the team with 11.0 points per game, while Calhoun is also in double figures with 10.4. 
 
LMU is currently ranked eighth in the 11-team SAC and 232nd in the nation in field-goal percentage with a 42.5 percent mark. The Railsplitters are second in the league with 11.4 three-pointers per game, but rank eighth in the SAC and 202nd in the country in three-point percentage at 33.1 percent. 
 
Lockdown Defense
 
The Railsplitters have played well on the defensive end of the court, ranking 18th nationally in field-goal percentage defense with a 38 percent mark. In addition to that, Lincoln Memorial leads the country with 34 defensive rebounds per game. 
 
The Railsplitters have allowed over 40 percent shooting just once this season, and that came in their loss at Christian Brothers, which connected on 55 percent of its shot attempts. Other than that, Lincoln Memorial has held its opponents to 27.5, 37.1, 37.3 and 38.0 shooting percentages, respectively. 
 
SAC Dominance 
 
The Railsplitters have won six consecutive SAC regular-season titles and seven of the last eight overall. Most impressively, Lincoln Memorial is a combined 82-4 in conference play over the past four seasons, which includes a perfect 20-0 effort in 2017-18 and a 22-0 mark in 2015-16. 
 
LMU has not lost a SAC regular-season game in over a full calendar year, reeling off 34 straight conference victories since suffering a 103-101 overtime loss at Queens on January 9, 2017. 
 
Series History
 
- Wednesday represents the 208th all-time meeting in a series that spans back nearly a century to 1923. 
- The Railsplitters own a narrow 105-102 edge against the Eagles. Lincoln Memorial has won four consecutive games in the series dating back to their last loss against Carson-Newman on November 22, 2016. 
- LMU is striving for its first five-game winning streak over Carson-Newman since stringing together five straight from December 12, 1988 to February 1, 1990. 
- The Railsplitters have won all four games during its four-game winning streak by a minimum of 12 points. That stretch includes a 39-point win at Carson-Newman in January 2018, a 33-point win in the SAC semifinals in 2017 and a 32-point win in Harrogate in January 2017. 
- LMU is 59-40 all-time against the Eagles in Harrogate. Carson-Newman hasn't won in Harrogate since February 2015.