HARROGATE, Tenn. – For the first time since March 13, 2018, the Lincoln Memorial University men's basketball team will host a top-15 matchup inside B. Frank "Tex" Turner Arena when the eighth-ranked Railsplitters welcome 12th-ranked Queens University of Charlotte to Harrogate Saturday afternoon. Presented by Edward Jones Investments - Marc Trantham, LMU's South Atlantic Conference home opener will tip off at 4 p.m.
 
The Railsplitters (8-1, 3-0) are seeking their ninth consecutive win and are attempting to halt a three-game slide against the Royals (7-1, 2-0).
 
How to Follow
Saturday afternoon's tilt will be streamed live via SAC Live on Stretch Internet, while live statistics of the game can be followed by visiting LMURailsplitters.com, As usual, in-game updates will be available on LMU Railsplitter athletics' official Twitter account, @LMURailsplitter.
 
Opening Tip
- The last time LMU played host to a top-15 matchup the Railsplitters were the top team in the nation and took on then No. 7 Queens for the 2018 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional title.
- Saturday will mark the 11th meeting between LMU and the Royals since 2017 as the two teams met four times during both the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons prior to last season's two regular season matchups.
- With four postseason meetings between the two teams since 2017, the Railsplitters and Queens have each won five of the previous 10 outings against each other.
- LMU enters Saturday's affair on an eight-game win streak after earning victories in its first three SAC contests on the road at Wingate (113-76), Carson-Newman (93-88) and Coker (92-61).
- Saturday's game will be a battle of not only the top two teams in the league but also the NCAA Division II Southeast Region. For the second-straight week, the Railsplitters gained all six first-place votes in the D2SIDA Southeast Region Poll released Monday morning while the Royals are ranked second in the region.
- The SAC showdown will be the 22nd all-time meeting between LMU and Queens with the Railsplitters owning a 15-6 advantage in the series. However, the Royals have won each of the previous three matchups with LMU's last win in the series coming in the 2018 SAC Tournament title game, a 77-75 victory on March 4, 2018, in Greenville, South Carolina.
- The first meeting between the Railsplitters and Queens took place on Feb. 5, 1992, where LMU earned a 62-52 triumph in Harrogate. The Railsplitters won 10 of its first 11 outings with the Royals.
- Prior to its 2018 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional title game loss, LMU was a perfect 7-0 versus Queens in Harrogate as the Railsplitters hold a 7-2 home record in the series.
 
Historic Games between LMU and Queens
LMU has played historic postseason games against the Royals in recent years, including the 69-57 setback in the 2018 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional title game in Harrogate and an 82-68 victory for the 2017 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional championship in Charlotte, North Carolina. Queens claimed a 75-72 win over the Railsplitters in the 2017 SAC Tournament championship after LMU routed the Royals 95-67 in the 2016 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional semifinals inside Tex Turner Arena. In the 2015 version of the SAC Tournament, the Railsplitters got a clutch three-pointer from junior guard Gerel Simmons to give then third-ranked LMU a 67-64 semifinal victory over Queens.
 
Another 30-Point Victory
Six of the Railsplitters' eight wins on the season have come in dominant fashion. Just nine games into 2019-20, LMU already owns six 30-plus point victories with wins by large margins of 50, 47, 40, 37, 32 and 31. Last Saturday, the Railsplitters completed a 3-0 SAC road trip with a 31-point, 92-61 win at Coker. Overcoming an eight-point deficit late in the first half, LMU outscored the host Cobras 48-19 in the second half and closed out the contest on a 26-7 run over the final 10:20 of play. The Railsplitters clamped down on defense and held the Cobras to just 28 points across the last 27:55 of the game. Senior point guard Anthony Brown lit up the scoreboard in Hartsville, South Carolina, tying his career high and leading all scorers with 22 points on 10-for-14 shooting, a career best in made field goals. The 6-foot-1 Clermont, Florida, native also grabbed eight rebounds, handed out four assists and made a season-best three steals. With a 27-point average margin of victory, LMU ranks sixth in the nation in scoring margin. During their eight-game win streak, the Railsplitters have defeated their adversaries by an average margin of 31.6 points.
 
Among National Statistical Leaders
In addition to LMU's scoring margin ranking among the elite nationally, the Railsplitters sit among the top teams in the country in several offensive and defensive statistical categories. LMU ranks third in defensive rebounds per game (34.1), fourth in field-goal percentage defense (35.6%), fifth in total assists (171), sixth in both total rebounds (382) and three-pointers made (96), seventh in three-point field-goal percentage defense (26.6%), 10th in scoring (94.3 PPG), 13th in free throws made (155), 14th in both steals (80) and three-pointers attempted (249), and 17th in assists per game (19) and free-throw percentage (80.3%). The Railsplitters are also 24th nationally in field-goal percentage (51%) and 26th in rebounds per game (42.4).
 
Whitfield Reaches 1,000
It took redshirt junior guard Devin Whitfield just five games to get acclimated into head coach Josh Schertz' offensive system after transferring to Harrogate from fellow Division II member Trevecca Nazarene in Nashville and sitting out the 2018-19 season. The 6-foot-5 swingman has reached double-figure scoring in each of his last five outings and scored a season-high 31 points in LMU's 37-point road rout of Wingate. After recording a remarkable 907 points in two seasons at Trevecca Nazarene, Whitfield scored his 1,000th career point at Wingate on Nov. 23. He has amassed an astonishing 1,057 points in only 60 collegiate games played.
 
Voss is the Boss
There has been no sophomore slump for Courvoisier "Voss" McCauley, who is leading the team in scoring (20.1 PPG) and has posted at least 13 points in each of the Railsplitters' nine games this season, including a career-high 36 in an 83-72 home win over USC Aiken. The 6-foot-5 guard is shooting 40.5 percent (30-of-74) from outside, in addition to averaging 4.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.4 steals per game. McCauley ranks eighth in the nation in three-point attempts (74), ninth in made three pointers (30), 10th in field goal attempts (136), 15th in points scored (181), 32nd in made field goals (60) and 45th in three pointers made per game (3.3).
 
National Prominence
LMU moved up two spots to No. 7 in the latest D2SIDA Media Poll and rose one spot to No. 8 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Top 25 rankings released Tuesday. After being tabbed No. 6 in the NABC Preseason Top 25 and tied for No. 13 in the preseason D2SIDA Media Poll, the Railsplitters were ranked 10th in the first regular season release of the NABC Top 25 and 12th in the first media poll of the 2019-20 season.
 
Railsplitters at Home
Inside Tex Turner Arena, the Railsplitters have registered a .927 (139-11) 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.
 
Standard of Success
The Railsplitters have finished within the top two of the final SAC standings each of 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. LMU is 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. The Railsplitters have 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 294-65 (.819) 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 (.845) and Mark Few, Gonzaga (.824) - and owns the second-highest winning percentage among Division II leaders.
 
No. 12/11 Queens | 2019-20 Record: 7-1, 3-0 SAC

• Picked as the preseason favorite to win the league with eight first-place votes, the Royals are the defending regular season SAC champions. Queens posted a 19-1 league record in 2018-19 and went 31-5 overall.
• Since joining the league in 2013-14, the Royals have finished either first or second in the final SAC standings each of the last five seasons. Queens also won the regular season title in 2016-17 and claimed the 2017 SAC Tournament title.
• Averaging 89.4 points per game, the Royals own the 24th-highest scoring offense in the country and are ranked fifth nationally in free-throw attempts (223) and seventh in made free throws (166).
• Senior guard Daniel Carr, a 2019 All-SAC First Team selection and all-region performer, leads the team in both scoring (16.8 PPG) and assists (4.4 APG), while sophomore guard Jermaine Patterson (15.4 PPG) and redshirt freshman forward Jamari Smith (15.2 PPG) are also averaging double-figure scoring. Smith leads Queens' rebounding (7.0 RPG) as the Royals feature 2019 SAC All-Freshman Team pick sophomore guard Kenny Dye (7.9 PPG/3.8 APG) and redshirt senior guard Van Turner Jr. (9.0 PPG), an All-SAC honorable mention honoree last season. Carr ranks among national leaders in both made free throws (16th - 45) and free-throw attempts (17th - 57) while Smith leads the SAC and is 29th in the nation in field-goal percentage (63.3%).
• Queens is led by the winningest head coach in program history, Bart Lundy, who is in his seventh season of his second stint as the Royals' lead man. Lundy, who is in his 12th year overall guiding the Queens men's basketball team, owns a 270-87 (.756) record as a head coach in Charlotte. In 18 seasons as a head coach at the Division I and II levels, Lundy has posted a 366-174 (.678) career record.
• Prior to his second stint coaching the Royals, Lundy was the head coach at Division I High Point University where he went 96-66 (.593) in six seasons from 2003-09.
• Railsplitter head coach Schertz worked under Lundy for five seasons at High Point as an associate head coach prior to taking over in Harrogate.
• Last season LMU dropped a pair of games to Queens, falling 90-62 in North Carolina before coming up short in a 78-70 affair in Harrogate.

 
Looking Ahead
The Railsplitters will have an eight-day break from game action before continuing their three-game homestand next Sunday, Dec. 15 with a non-conference affair against Tennessee Wesleyan. Tip-off from inside Tex Turner Arena is slated for 3 p.m. On Wednesday, Dec. 18, LMU wraps up its homestand and steps back into SAC play when it hosts Lenoir-Rhyne at 7:30 p.m. in Harrogate.
 
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.