HARROGATE, Tenn. – Attempting to complete a 4-0 homestand, the Lincoln Memorial University men's basketball team hosts nearby Johnson University (Tenn.) Tuesday night at 7 p.m. inside B. Frank "Tex" Turner Arena. The game will serve as the Railsplitters' final tune-up before South Atlantic Conference play, which begins this weekend when LMU travels to Wingate Saturday.
 
How to Follow
Tuesday night's affair will be streamed live on the LMU Sports Network with the voice of the Railsplitters, Rusty Peace, providing play-by-play commentary. Live statistics of the matchup can be followed by visiting LMURailsplitters.com, while in-game updates will be available on LMU Railsplitter athletics' official Twitter account, @LMURailsplitter.
 
Another Weekend, Another Rout
After back-to-back weekends of playing both Friday and Saturday games, the Railsplitters took advantage of having just one contest. LMU blew past visiting Christian Brothers, who received votes in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Preseason Poll, in 40-point fashion Saturday afternoon as it notched a 92-52 victory inside Tex Turner Arena. Holding the Buccaneers scoreless for over a 10.5-minute stretch that spanned from the end of the first half until nearly the first media timeout of the second half, the Railsplitters used stifling defense and sharp-shooting to claim their third blowout win of the young season. LMU shot 58.2 percent (32-of-55) from the field across the 40 minutes of action and was even better in the second half, going 17-for-26 (65.4%) from the floor and 7-for-14 (50%) from deep. Limiting Christian Brothers to just 14 first-half points, the Railsplitters held the Bucs to 29.8 percent (17-of-57) shooting for the game and owned a 37-28 edge on the glass. The win was the third large-margin triumph for LMU thus far after the Railsplitters downed receiving-votes Davenport by 50 (98-48) over the opening weekend in the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in Saint Joseph, Missouri, and routed Clayton State by 32 (87-55) the following weekend in Harrogate.
 
Breakout Performances
Saturday's win yielded breakout performances from a pair of junior guards as Devin Whitfield and Alex Dahling combined for 40 points – 43.5 percent of LMU's scoring. Whitfield, who is in his first season of on-court action after transferring from fellow NCAA Division II Trevecca Nazarene in Nashville, led all scorers with a season-high 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting. The 6-foot-5 guard also added four rebounds, three assists and a steal. Meanwhile, Dahling lit it up from the floor by going 7-for-10 and 5-for-8 from deep on his way to scoring 19. He also had a trio of boards and a steal.
 
Efficient Offense/Effective Defense
Through five games this season the Railsplitters have won their games by an average margin of 24.6, which is the top scoring margin in the SAC and is the 16th-best difference in the nation. LMU's 89.8 points per game rank the Railsplitters among the top 30 teams nationally in scoring, while the Blue and Gray hold the 23rd-best field-goal percentage in the country at 51.8 percent (162-of-313). Holding three different opponents under 55 points, LMU has kept their adversaries to a 35.4 percent shooting clip which is the 11th-lowest defensive field-goal percentage in the nation. Furthermore, both the Railsplitters' total scoring defense (65.2 PPG) and three-point defense (28.1%) rank among national leaders.
 
Railsplitters at Home
Inside Tex Turner Arena, the Railsplitters have registered a .926 (138-11) winning percentage this decade. Entering the 2019-20 season, LMU ranked sixth nationally at home in all of college basketball since 2010-11 with a .925 (135-11) winning percentage. Only West Liberty (.953), Bellarmine (.949), Kansas (.947), Kentucky (.942) and Duke (.929) owned a higher home court winning percentage than the Railsplitters during that span.
 
National Prominence
LMU is ranked No. 6 nationally according to the National Association of Basketball Coaches' (NABC) preseason poll and is tied for 13th in the preseason D2SIDA Media Poll. The Railsplitters also gained national attention from a pair of preseason publications with the Blue and Gray tabbed No. 6 by Division II Bulletin and No. 9 by Street & Smith's. With the release of the first regular season Southeast Region media poll Monday morning, LMU landed one first-place vote and ranks second in the region behind only fellow SAC member Queens, who garnered five first-place nods. Both the first regular season NABC Top 25 and national media poll come out Tuesday, Nov. 19.  
 
Standard of Success
LMU has finished within the top two of the final SAC standings for the last nine years, spent 95-straight weeks in the national rankings from December 2010 to December 2016 and completed the season as the top team in the country in two of the last four seasons. The Railsplitters are one of four Division II programs to have posted 20 wins or more for 10 consecutive years. Only West Liberty (15), Bellarmine (11) and Indiana Pa. (11) can say the same. LMU has also reached the NCAA Tournament eight of the last nine seasons.
 
Coach Schertz Among the Elite
Since taking over the LMU men's basketball program in March of 2008, head coach Josh Schertz has amassed a remarkable 290-65 (.817) record over 12 seasons. Entering the 2019-20 season, Schertz' career winning percentage (.817) was the fifth-highest of any head coach in college basketball history at any NCAA level. Furthermore, Schertz ranks third among active head coaches with at least 10 years at the helm - Jim Crutchfield, Nova Southeastern (.844) and Mark Few, Gonzaga (.823) - and owns the second-highest winning percentage among Division II leaders.
 
Johnson University (Tenn.) | 2019-20 Record: 4-3

• The Royals enter Tuesday with a 4-3 mark having faced Division III members Sewanee, Birmingham-Southern and Maryville College. Johnson dropped a 97-85 decision at Sewanee, claimed a 95-92 neutral-site win versus Birmingham-Southern and defeated Maryville College, 77-60. Other wins for the Royals this season include home season-opening victories over Toccoa Falls (89-60) and Bob Jones (84-81). Most recently, Johnson was handed a 76-73 loss at Piedmont College Sunday. The Royals also suffered a 61-57 setback in an exhibition game at NAIA member the University of the Cumberlands (Nov. 12).
• Formerly known as Johnson Bible College, LMU faced now Johnson University (Tenn.) 13 times between 1926-53 where the Railsplitters won all 13 meetings and did not allow more than 45 points in any contest. Most recently, LMU earned an 86-45 victory in Mary Mars Gymnasium on Nov. 16, 1953. In the two meetings prior in November of 1946, the Railsplitters picked up 66-13 and 69-27 triumphs in an away and home series. LMU has defeated Johnson eight times in Harrogate.

 
Looking Ahead
The Railsplitters begin a three-game road stretch this weekend when they open up conference play at Wingate Saturday. Tip-off from inside Cuddy Arena in Wingate, North Carolina, is slated for 4 p.m. LMU will then head to rival Carson-Newman Tuesday, Nov. 26 for a 7:30 p.m. midweek tilt in nearby Jefferson City, Tennessee.
 
LMU L-Club
All LMU L-Club members receive basketball season tickets with premium seating available through silver and platinum memberships. Additional membership benefits include discounts at community partner locations, exclusive e-mail communications, VIP basketball parking and Tex Turner Arena hospitality room access. Become an LMU L-Club member today by visiting LMURailsplitters.com.  
 
On Social
Stay tuned to LMURailsplitters.com, as well as LMU's social media platforms - @LMURailsplitter on Twitter, @LMURailsplitters on Facebook and @lmurailsplitters on Instagram, for complete coverage of Railsplitter basketball throughout the 2019-20 season.