HARROGATE, Tenn. – The No. 1 Railsplitters (23-1) will take a break from South Atlantic Conference play on Wednesday night when they begin the penultimate week of the regular season with a matchup against the Hiwassee Tigers at 7 p.m. inside of Tex Turner Arena. Lincoln Memorial enters Wednesday's contest riding a 12-game winning streak as well as a 19-game home winning streak.
 
Hiwassee has provided little to no resistance in the all-time series against Lincoln Memorial, who has not lost a game in the series since 1937. The Railsplitters have won 19 consecutive matchups against the Tigers since that loss more than eight decades ago, and the last eight have been decided by at least 25 points.
 
That includes a 105-63 win the last time the two teams teed it up in November 2015 as well as a 103-46 victory in 2010, a 111-47 triumph in 2009 and a then record-breaking 143-62 win in 2009 as well. The 143 points stood as a single-game program record until Lincoln Memorial racked up a SAC-record 156 points earlier this season against Mars Hill.
 
The Railsplitters head into the final nonconference tune-up of the 2017-18 campaign playing arguably their best basketball of the season. Lincoln Memorial has won 12 consecutive games since slipping up against defending national champions Northwest Missouri State on December 19. Of those 12 straight wins, all but one has been decided by at least 17 points.
 
Lincoln Memorial extended its record SAC winning streak to 31 games on Saturday with a 93-65 win at Wingate, which also pushed the Railsplitters' nation-leading road winning streak to 20 games. The Railsplitters started just 4-for-15 from the field but used a 19-2 first-half run to blow things open. Lincoln Memorial shook off that slow start to shoot 53 percent and go 11-for-23 from three.
 
Trevon Shaw went bananas from three-point range once again in that contest, hitting eight of his 12 attempts to score a game-high 24 points. The senior also added seven rebounds to cap off a game that eventually led him to AstroTurf SAC Player of the Week accolades. With those eight threes, Shaw has now hit 110 – the most in Division II this season - to move into fourth in the program's single-season history and 30 away from matching Luquon Choice's program record.
 
Emanuel Terry had another monster game as well, logging 22 points with 11 rebounds and two steals. The senior forward, who has posted nine 20-point outbursts this season, continues to lead the SAC in field-goal percentage with an absurd 72.4 percent clip.
 
The Railsplitters have not lost a nonconference game at Tex Turner Arena since head coach Josh Schertz's first season at the helm, a 76-74 overtime loss against Ohio Valley on December 9, 2008. Lincoln Memorial has been particularly dominant at home against nonconference foes this season with an 88-64 win over Shorter, a 106-75 victory over Virginia-Wise and a 108-61 whipping of Bluefield.
 
Through 24 games, Lincoln Memorial still astoundingly leads the nation in both field-goal percentage offense and defense, shooting 55.1 percent from the floor while allowing just 36.2 percent shooting. Due to that, the Railsplitters are winning by a nation-leading average of 29 points per game.
 
After Wednesday night's contest, Lincoln Memorial has just three games remaining on the regular-season schedule. The Railsplitters will make a trip to Coker on Saturday before closing things out with monster home games against Carson-Newman and Queens.
 
Tip-off between the Railsplitters and Hiwassee Tigers is set for 7 p.m. at Tex Turner Arena. Live stats, video and audio links are available at www.lmurailsplitters.com.