AIKEN, S.C. -- The No. 3 Lincoln Memorial men's basketball program is set to kick off its 2018-19 season this weekend with matchups against Clayton State on Friday and USC Aiken on Saturday in the South Atlantic Conference vs. Peach Belt Conference Challenge, which is being held in its entirety at the USC Aiken Convocation Center. 
 
Tip-off for Friday night's season opener against Clayton State is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., while the Railsplitters will quickly turn around to face host USC Aiken at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. Video, live stats and audio are available for both games at www.lmurailsplitters.com. 
 
Notes on Clayton State 
 
- The Lakers went 24-7 last season, including a 17-3 record in PBC play to win their second consecutive conference regular-season title. Clayton State also finished as the PBC tournament runners-up and made a trip to the Southeast Regional semifinals, where their season was ended with an 87-61 loss at Lincoln Memorial. 
- Clayton State was ranked 20th in the Division II Bulletin preseason poll and had senior forward Jaylen Taylor recognized as a preseason All-American honorable mention. 
- The Lakers nearly pulled off an upset last Thursday when they suffered an 81-78 exhibition loss at Division I Kennesaw State. Aubrey McRae led that effort with 22 points, JaCarl Owens had 17 points and nine rebounds, and Taylor chipped in 12 points, six rebounds and three steals. 
- Clayton State was picked second in the PBC preseason poll behind only UNC Pembroke. 
- Taylor, McRae, Owens and Justin Tuckson are all back after starting at least 19 games for the Lakers last season. Taylor averaged 12.6 points and 8.1 rebounds per game while shooting 53 percent from the field, while McRae chipped in 11.7 points and hit a team-high 67 triples. Tuckson scored 10.6 points per game and buried 66 three-pointers. 
- Clayton State is led by head coach Jimmy Link, who is entering his fourth season with a combined 54-32 record with the Lakers. Also on staff is former LMU assistant (2008-12) Lance Egnatz. 
 
Notes on USC Aiken 
 
- The Pacers finished 16-12 last season and went 12-10 in PBC play. USC Aiken was ousted from the PBC tournament by Clayton State in the semifinal round. 
- The PBC coaches picked USC Aiken fourth in the preseason poll, while Doniel Dean was named to the preseason All-PBC team. 
- USC Aiken returns three players that started at least 22 games last season in Dean, Faison Brock and Robert Hill. Dean led the Pacers with 16.9 points per game, 121 assists and 44 steals, while Brock and Hill led the team in rebounding with 7.3 and 8.7 per game, respectively. Brock added 10.6 points per game while Hill chipped in 8.1. Hill also recorded a team-high 78 blocks. 
- The Pacers added transfer Xzavier Barmore to its roster this offseason. The junior guard previously spent time at Liberty and the College of Central Florida, scoring 9.9 points per game last season. 
- Transfers Ty'lik Evans (Savannah State) and Damontez Oliver (Campbell) should also play a big role in the Pacers' rotation this season. 
- Mark Vanderslice is entering his fourth season as the head coach at USC Aiken. He is 40-41 through his first three seasons. 
- USC Aiken hosts Tusculum in its season opener on Friday before turning around to play Lincoln Memorial on Saturday.
 
Railsplitters Give Auburn a Scare 
 
Lincoln Memorial hung right with the No. 11 Auburn Tigers in exhibition action last Friday, falling 76-62 at Auburn Arena. Neither team shot the rock well, as LMU finished 21-for-58 (36 percent) from the field while Auburn was 26-for-65 (40 percent). 
 
Preseason All-American Cornelius Taylor led all players with 25 points on 8-of-22 shooting, while newcomer Anthony Brown scored 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting to go along with a team-high eight rebounds. Rhondi Hackett chipped in nine points and five boards. 
 
High Expectations 
 
Lincoln Memorial is ranked in the top five in four different preseason polls. The Railsplitters enter the season at No. 2 in the D2SIDA top-25 poll and No. 3 in the NABC/Division II Coaches Poll. On top of that, LMU was tabbed at No. 4 in both the Division II Bulletin and Street & Smith preseason rankings. 
 
Starting Fast 
 
Since the start of the 2010-11 season, the Railsplitters are a combined 12-1 on the first weekend of competition. Lincoln Memorial has also won nine of 10 season openers under head coach Josh Schertz, with the only loss over that span coming against King to kick off the 2015-16 campaign. 
 
A Decade of Dominance 
 
The Railsplitters own the second-best winning percentage (.860) and have compiled the second-most wins (252) in all of Division II men's basketball this decade. Over the past four seasons, Lincoln Memorial has reeled off four straight 30-win seasons with a cumulative 126-14 record. The Railsplitters have also won seven of the last eight SAC regular-season titles, including a run of six straight.  
 
Previewing the 2018-19 season
 
- A deep but largely inexperienced backcourt will be counted on to lead the new-look Railsplitters. That was discussed in part one of the 2018-19 season preview. 
- The Railsplitters no longer have All-American forwards Dorian Pinson and Emanuel Terry leading the frontcourt rotation. Part two of the 2018-19 season preview detailed the new-look forwards.
- Here is the final part of the 2018-19 season preview, which brought it all together for an overall outlook. 
 
Facing Clayton State 
 
Friday will be just the second-ever meeting between Lincoln Memorial and Clayton State. The two teams met for the first time in last season's Southeast Regional semifinals, which the Railsplitters won in dominant fashion 87-61. Taylor is the only player returning for the Railsplitters that started that game, as the redshirt-junior guard scored 14 points in 32 minutes of work. 
 
First Matchup Against the Pacers
 
Lincoln Memorial will clash with USC Aiken for the first time in program history on Saturday. The two teams nearly met in the 2014 Southeast Regional final, but the Railsplitters were eliminated by Montevallo in the semifinals.