HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Railsplitters will have a chance for redemption on Saturday evening when they try to snap a two-game losing streak against rival Queens with a massive South Atlantic Conference showdown against the No. 9 Royals at Tex Turner Arena. 
 
Lincoln Memorial (14-5, 9-3 SAC) is coming off a disappointing 79-75 loss at Carson-Newman on Wednesday night, which snapped a four-game winning streak. The Railsplitters are also hoping to avenge a 90-62 loss at Queens (19-3, 11-1 SAC) on December 8, which was Lincoln Memorial's most lopsided loss since February 2008. 
 
Tip-off between the top-two teams in the SAC standings is set for 4 p.m. Live stats and video links are available at www.lmurailsplitters.com, while fans can also follow along with live in-game updates via the official LMU athletics Twitter page, @LMURailsplitter.
 
Notes on Queens 
 
- Ranked No. 9 in the NABC national poll and No. 6 in the latest D2SIDA media poll, the Royals saw their 14-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday with a 92-79 home loss to Lenoir-Rhyne. The 92 points were the second-most allowed by Queens this season, as the Bears shot 52 percent from the field to hand Queens its first SAC loss of the 2018-19 campaign and first loss of 2019. 
- The Royals had been flirting with a loss prior to Wednesday's setback. They squeaked by Anderson the game before 83-75, beat Catawba on a game-winner on January 16, overcame a seven-point, second-half deficit in an 81-77 win at Carson-Newman on January 12, and narrowly beat 7-12 Newberry by two points on January 9. 
- Those close wins aside, Queens is without question one of the best teams in the country, ranking ninth nationally in field-goal percentage at 50.8 percent, sixth in three-point percentage with a 42 percent mark and 20th in scoring offense at 87.5 points per game. 
- The Royals are led by the frontrunner for SAC Player of the Year, senior forward Shaun Willett, who is second in the conference in scoring with 19.6 points per game and leads the league in rebounding with 11.9 boards per game. He is shooting 52 percent from the field and averaging 2.5 assists per game as well. 
- Willett has been on an unholy tear in 2019. Including Queens' 102-85 win over Virginia Union on January 3, Willett has scored at least 20 points in six of his last eight games. That was highlighted by a 30-point outburst against Lenoir-Rhyne on Wednesday. 
- Willett has been supported by three other exceptional players in junior guard Daniel Carr, senior center Lewis Diankulu and junior sharpshooter Van Turner. Carr is averaging 16.5 points per game and shooting 44.4 percent from three, Diankulu is contributing 12.9 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, and Van Turner has canned a league-leading 73 three-pointers on a remarkable 46.5 percent clip. 
- Queens has no glaring weakness, but the Royals are a mostly middle-of-the-road defensive group, as opponents are shooting 42.5 percent from the field and scoring 76.4 points per game. 
- The Royals are a perfect 8-0 in true road games this season. They haven't lost on the road since Lincoln Memorial beat them 80-65 last season in the regular-season finale. 
 
Last Time Out 
 
Despite leading outright for nearly 35 minutes, pulling ahead by as many as eight points in the second half and holding Carson-Newman without a field goal for the final five minutes, the Railsplitters suffered a 79-75 loss in Jefferson City, Tenn., on Wednesday night. The loss snapped a five-game winning streak in the series for LMU. 
 
Several factors ultimately led to the loss. One, the Eagles buried 14 three-pointers, including nine in the second half alone. Two, the Railsplitters gave up six offensive boards in the second half that led directly to 12 second-chance points. Finally, Lincoln Memorial went without a point for over three minutes late, while the Eagles went 8-for-8 at the free-throw line over the final 64 seconds to close it out. 
 
The Railsplitters shot just 39 percent in the contest. Cornelius Taylor led the way with 18 points, though he went 7-for-22 from the field and 3-for-12 from three. Alex Dahling added 14 points on 4-for-7 shooting from three, while Rhondi Hackett had another good game with 12 points and seven boards. 
 
The loss dropped Lincoln Memorial to 4-5 on the road this season. 
 
Tip-Ins
 
- With a win on Saturday, head coach Josh Schertz would have sole possession of the second-most SAC wins in league history with 174. Schertz has already matched Jim Baker, who served as the head coach at Catawba for 20 seasons. While Baker coached 577 games across 20 seasons in Salisbury, Schertz is in only his 11th season at LMU. He enters Saturday with a lifetime 280-60 record. Former Lenoir-Rhyne coach John Lentz is the SAC's all-time leader in conference victories with 225.  
- After leading the Railsplitters in scoring in the previous four games, Kamaran Calhoun was all but eliminated from the scoring column in Wednesday's loss at C-N. He was held to just two points on 1-of-6 shooting, but did grab a game-high 10 rebounds. 
- Lincoln Memorial is 9-0 at home this season. The Railsplitters have not lost a regular-season home game since a 107-102 setback against Newberry on December 17, 2016. 
- A win would also move the Railsplitters a game back of Queens in the SAC standings, while a loss would put Lincoln Memorial's streak of six consecutive SAC regular-season titles in jeopardy with only seven conference games the rest of the way. 
- Hackett has back-to-back games in double figures, following up last Saturday's 14-point performance with a 12-point effort against Carson-Newman. He has hit double digits in three of his last five overall after going the first 14 games of the season without accomplishing that feat. 
 
Series History 
 
- LMU and Queens have developed one of the most heated rivalries in all of Division II basketball in recent years. The two sides have met in the postseason in each of the past four seasons. The Railsplitters ended the Royals' season in the region final in 2017, in the region semifinals in 2016 and in the SAC semifinals in 2015, while Queens put an end to LMU's 2017-18 season with a win in the region championship game at Tex Turner Arena. 
- The Railsplitters are 15-5 all-time against Queens, but the Royals have won two straight in the series after demolishing Lincoln Memorial by 28 points earlier this season in Charlotte, N.C. 
- Simply put, nothing went right for the Railsplitters while everything went right for the Royals in that loss. LMU shot just 38 percent and a dismal 22 percent from three, and turned the ball over 18 times. Queens shot 51 percent and went 12-for-20 from three in the victory. 
- The Railsplitters are 7-1 against Queens at home. Their only loss to the Royals at Tex Turner Arena came in that 69-57 loss in the region championship last March.