HARROGATE, Tenn. – After completing arguably the most impressive regular season in program history with a resounding win last Saturday, the No. 1 Railsplitters (27-1) turn the page to postseason play, which begins on Wednesday night with a matchup against the Anderson Trojans (10-18) in the quarterfinals of the South Atlantic Conference Championship.
 
Top-seeded Lincoln Memorial will host eight-seeded Anderson at Tex Turner Arena at 8 p.m., with the winner advancing to face the winner of No. 4 Wingate vs. No. 5 Coker on Saturday at Timmons Arena in Greenville, S.C. Admission for Wednesday's game is $8 for adults, $4 for youth (12 and under), seniors (60+), active and retired military and $2 for college students with a college ID.
 
The Railsplitters head into the league tournament after clinching their sixth consecutive SAC regular-season title in outright fashion on Saturday with a convincing 80-65 win over the No. 2 nationally ranked Queens Royals at Tex Turner Arena. In front of a national television audience, Lincoln Memorial opened the game with a 13-2 run and never trailed to push their overall winning streak to 16 games and capture their 34th straight regular-season SAC victory. Spurred to the win by a gritty defensive effort that limited Queens to just 43 percent shooting, the Railsplitters also won their 22nd straight game at Tex Turner Arena.
 
Cornelius Taylor led Lincoln Memorial with 24 points – 22 of which came in the first half – and five assists on a 5-for-11 mark from three. Dorian Pinson added 21 points, 13 rebounds and four steals, while Emanuel Terry posted 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting with 10 rebounds and three blocks. Josh Odem was stellar as well with eight points, 10 boards, five assists and three steals.
 
Lincoln Memorial begins postseason play eyeing its sixth straight trip to the SAC Championship title game. Since the 2011 tournament, the Railsplitters are a remarkable 16-4 in SAC tournament play. That stretch includes SAC Championship titles in 2011, 2014 and 2016. The Railsplitters have won seven consecutive SAC Championship games at Tex Turner Arena over that span.
 
The Railsplitters will be led into the postseason by quite possibly the three most productive players in the South Atlantic Conference in the dynamic senior trio of Terry, Pinson and Trevon Shaw. Those three also happen to be top 50 candidates for the 2018 Bevo Francis Award, given annually to the best player competing outside of the NCAA Division I ranks.
 
Terry is ranked fifth in the SAC in scoring with 17.8 points per game and leads the league in rebounding (10.4) and blocks (51 total). On top of that, he is shooting a SAC-leading 72 percent from the field. Shaw is tied for the team-lead in scoring with 17.8 points per game and has hit a nation-leading 122 three-pointers. He needs just 18 more to match the SAC and program single-season record. Pinson, meanwhile, is producing 14.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game while shooting 60 percent from the field. He is fourth in the SAC in total assists (122) and steals (50).
 
That trio has been backed by a breakout season from Taylor, who is ranked 12th in the SAC in scoring with 14.9 points per game and is shooting 48 percent from the field. He has also dished out the sixth-most assists in the SAC with 111 this season.
 
The Railsplitters' postseason road begins with the eight-seeded Anderson Trojans, who Lincoln Memorial has faced twice in postseason competition. The Trojans upset the Railsplitters in the opening round of the 2011 NCAA Tournament, but Lincoln Memorial won the most recent postseason clash with a 76-71 victory in the 2014 SAC Championship title game.
 
Anderson claimed the final spot in the SAC tournament by the slimmest of margins, finishing one game ahead of ninth-place Catawba despite dropping its regular-season finale to Coker on Saturday, 82-76. Prior to that, the Trojans solidified their foothold on the eight seed with three straight wins over Mars Hill, Wingate and Tusculum.
 
The Trojans are not a great offensive outfit, ranking ninth in the SAC in points per game with 73.4. Instead, Anderson relies on its defense to win, as the Trojans allow the fifth-fewest points per game in the SAC with 78.3 and hold opponents to just 44.7 percent shooting and a 35.7 percent mark from three.
 
Juniors Gage Ellis, Randall Shaw and Jeremy Bouton lead the Trojans offensively. Ellis is putting up 15.0 points and 3.6 rebounds per game while shooting 51.2 percent from the field, while Shaw is contributing 14.6 points and 3.0 rebounds per game on an paltry 38 percent shooting clip. Bouton is also in double figures with 13.2 points per game to go with a team-best 6.2 rebounds per game.
 
The Trojans will be trying to end a 10-game losing streak against the Railsplitters, who they have not beaten since November 2013. Lincoln Memorial swept the regular-season series with relative ease, throttling Anderson by a combined 63 points with an 88-58 win on the road and an 87-54 triumph at home.
 
In the Railsplitters' 33-point win at Tex Turner Arena on January 3, Lincoln Memorial never trailed and opened the game with a 15-0 run. The Railsplitters led by 24 points at the half and hit 12 three-pointers in the lopsided victory. Taylor scored a career-high 31 points on a 7-for-11 effort from three, while Terry produced 19 points and eight rebounds. Pinson finished just shy of a triple-double with 13 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists. Bouton led the Trojans with 13 points and eight rebounds.
 
Anderson's Shaw did not play in either of the regular-season matchups against the Railsplitters. He enters the postseason having scored double figures in his last two appearances – a 17-point game against Tusculum and a 13-point performance against Coker.
 
Tip-off between the Railsplitters and Trojans is set for 8 p.m. on Wednesday night at Tex Turner Arena. Live stats, video and audio links are available at www.lmurailsplitters.com.
 
Quick Hits:
 
- The Railsplitters all but assured that they will host the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional for the third time in the past four seasons with Saturday's win over Queens. Lincoln Memorial entered that matchup ranked No. 1 in the Southeast Region poll with a win over the Royals already on their resume.
 
- Lincoln Memorial is hoping to win the SAC Championship title for the first time since 2016. The Railsplitters were beaten by Queens in the SAC tournament championship game last season, 75-72.