WINGATE, N.C. – After completing a 4-0 homestand Tuesday night with another blowout win, the Lincoln Memorial University men's basketball team begins South Atlantic Conference play and starts a three-game road trip Saturday at Wingate University. The Railsplitters (5-1, 0-0 SAC) and the Bulldogs (4-1 0-0 SAC) are set to tip off at 5:30 p.m. from inside Cuddy Arena in Wingate, North Carolina, as LMU seeks its sixth consecutive victory.
 
How to Follow
Saturday's late afternoon SAC tilt will be streamed live via Stretch Internet, while live statistics of the game can be followed by visiting WingateBulldogs.com, As usual, in-game updates will be available on LMU Railsplitter athletics' official Twitter account, @LMURailsplitter.
 
Railsplitters in SAC Openers
Since joining the league prior to the 2006-07 season, LMU has gone 10-3 in SAC openers going back to a 78-73 victory at Carson-Newman on Jan. 3, 2007 in the Railsplitters' first ever SAC game. Since taking over the program in 2008, head coach Josh Schertz is 9-2 in conference openers. LMU has won two-straight SAC openers with its last league opening loss coming in 2016-17, a 111-109 overtime defeat at Carson-Newman (Nov. 22, 2016). Last season, the Railsplitters began SAC play with a 90-68 triumph over Carson-Newman in Harrogate.
 
30-Point Blowouts
Heading into this weekend's conference opener, the Railsplitters have already claimed four 30-plus-point wins this season with their smallest margin of victory coming by 11 points in an 83-72 home win over USC Aiken nearly two weeks ago. In LMU's second game at the fourth annual Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in Saint Joseph, Missouri, the Railsplitters dismantled receiving-votes Davenport by an astonishing 50 (98-48) before ousting Clayton State by 32 (87-55) in their home opener two weeks ago. This past Saturday, LMU routed then receiving-votes Christian Brothers by 40 (92-52) in Harrogate and downed Johnson University (Tenn.) by 47 (102-55) Tuesday night inside Tex Turner Arena.
 
Last Time Out
Winning its fifth consecutive game, the Railsplitters forced visiting Johnson University into turning the ball over 23 times as LMU scored 34 points off the Royals' miscues. Leading all but the opening 47 scoreless seconds of the contest, the Railsplitters claimed 28 fastbreak points and tallied 46 points in the paint while collecting 50 rebounds and nailing 15 treys. For the second-straight outing, LMU held its adversary to under 30 percent shooting as the Railsplitters limited Johnson University to just 28.2 percent (20-of-71) from the floor and 19.4 percent (6-of-31) from long range. LMU scored 50 points in each half and dominated the better part of the 40 minutes of action, shooting 52.5 percent (21-of-40) from the field and going 8-for-19 (42.1%) from distance in the first half. Assisting on 29 of 38 made baskets, the Railsplitters shot 48.7 percent (38-of-78) for the game, were 36.6 percent (15-of-41) from distance and 91.7 percent (11-of-12) at the free-throw line.
 
Whitfield Shining
It hasn't taken very long for former Trevecca Nazarene star Devin Whitfield to be making a big impact for LMU. After sitting out all of 2018-19, the redshirt junior guard needed just four games to get acclimated to head coach Schertz' offensive system before returning to where he left off at the fellow NCAA Division II program in Nashville. Against Christian Brothers over the weekend, Whitfield led all scorers with 21 points on 8-for-17 shooting, collected four rebounds, handed out a trio of assists and made a steal. The 6-foot-5 wing followed up that performance by leading all scorers once again with a season-best 25-point performance in Tuesday night's win over Johnson University. He went 9-for-15 (60%) from the field in the game, hit four three-pointers, grabbed four boards and dished out three assists, not to mention recording a season-high five steals and two blocks on defense. Over the last two outings, Whitfield is averaging 23 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals while shooting 53.1 percent (17-of-32).
 
Efficient on Both Ends of the Floor
Holding four of the Railsplitters' six opponents to 55 points or below thus far this season, LMU ranks among the best nationally in field-goal percentage defense by limiting opposing teams to a 34 percent shooting average for the eighth-lowest in all of Division II basketball. Furthermore, the Railsplitters are holding their adversaries to just 26.5 percent shooting from beyond the arc to rank 22nd in the nation in that category, while allowing just 63.5 points per game through six contests to rank 32nd nationally. Offensively, LMU has been just as impressive with the 18th-highest scoring offense (91.8 PPG) and 24th-best field-goal percentage (51.2%). From long range, the Railsplitters' 170 three-point attempts rank ninth in the nation while their 63 three-pointers are 10th-most nationally and 10.5 made treys a game 38th-highest in the country. Outscoring its opponents by an average of 28.3 points, LMU ranks 10th nationally and is tops in the SAC in scoring margin.
 
National Prominence
With the first regular season rankings release of 2019-20 earlier this week, LMU is ranked No. 10 nationally according to the National Association of Basketball Coaches' (NABC) Top 25 and is No. 12 in the preseason D2SIDA Media Poll. The Railsplitters also gained one first-place vote in the D2SIDA Southeast Region rankings and are second only behind fellow SAC member Queens (5-0), who earned five first-place nods.
 
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 291-65 (.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.
 
Wingate | 2019-20 Record: 4-1, 0-0 SAC

• The Bulldogs enter the weekend with a 4-1 record after most recently dropping their first game of 2019-20, an 80-69 setback at home at the hands of UNC Pembroke.
• Wingate was picked to finish fourth in the SAC according to the league's preseason coaches poll after going 12-8 in conference play a year ago and finishing in a three-way tie for fourth place in the final SAC standings.
• Getting to the foul line, making free throws and forcing turnovers are two things the Bulldogs have done well this season. Wingate ranks 13th nationally in free throws made (102), 23rd in free-throw attempts (125) and 24th in free-throw percentage (81.6%) while 12th in turnover margin (7.4), 25th in turnovers forced per game (25.0), 31st in total steals (45) and 41st in steals per game (9.0).
• The Bulldogs are led by three double-digit scorers - redshirt sophomore guard Jarren Cottingham (18.4 PPG), redshirt junior forward Rashaard Pringle (14.8 PPG), redshirt sophomore guard Francis Sio (13.4 PPG) - as senior guard Frankie Johnson, who is averaging 8.6 points and leads the team in assists (4.0 APG), was a preseason All-SAC First Team pick.
• Saturday will be the 26th all-time meeting between LMU and Wingate with the Railsplitters owning a 25-10 advantage in the all-time series.
• LMU looks to avenge its 2018-19 season-ending loss to the Bulldogs in the 2019 SAC Tournament quarterfinals inside Tex Turner Arena. After sophomore guard Courvoisier McCauley tied the game up at 78 with a three-pointer under 30 seconds to go, Wingate guard Charlie Hovasse hit a layup at the buzzer to secure an 80-78 win.
• Prior to last year's postseason loss, the Railsplitters had won 15 straight over the Bulldogs dating back to March of 2013. LMU has gone 9-5 versus Wingate in Wingate, North Carolina, including a 67-64 win last February and a 93-65 victory in February of 2018.

 
Looking Ahead
The Railsplitters remain away from Harrogate and continue their three-game road trip with a visit to local rival Carson-Newman Tuesday for a 7:30 p.m. tip with the Eagles. Next Saturday, Nov. 30, LMU travels to Hartsville, South Carolina, for a 4 p.m. matchup at Coker University.
 
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.