GAFFNEY, S.C. – Following its first setback in 435 days, the Lincoln Memorial University men's basketball team returns to game action Wednesday night when it visits Limestone University for an 8 p.m. South Atlantic Conference affair inside the Timken Center in Gaffney, South Carolina. The sixth-ranked Railsplitters (7-1, 5-1 SAC), who have lost just once in their last 40 games, look to rebound against the host Saints (0-4, 0-4 SAC).
 
Making its third road trip of the season and second of the new year, LMU will be taking on first-year SAC member Limestone for just the second time this millennium. The fourth school from the state of South Carolina to join the conference, the Saints officially became the league's 13th member on July 1, 2020.
 
How to Follow
Wednesday night's tilt will be streamed live via SAC Live on Stretch Internet and live statistics of the matchup can be followed by visiting GoLimestoneSaints.com. As usual, in-game updates will be available on LMU Railsplitter athletics' official Twitter account, @LMURailsplitter.
 
Railsplitters on the Road
Since head coach Josh Schertz has been at the helm, the Railsplitters have gone 116-36 (.763) in true road games and completed three undefeated seasons at opposing team's venues. Last year, LMU was a perfect 12-0 in true road games after owning that same record on the road in 2017-18 and 2014-15. In the last 681 days, the Railsplitters have suffered just one true road defeat.
 
A Top-10 Staple
Despite its loss over the weekend, LMU remains ranked among the nation's top 10 in both national polls. In the fifth National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II Top 25 regular season poll of 2020-21 announced Tuesday afternoon, the Railsplitters are No. 6. LMU held onto its No. 2 national ranking in the first D2SID Media Poll of 2021, which was also released Tuesday afternoon. Receiving five first-place votes, the Railsplitters sit atop the first regular season D2SIDA Southeast Region Poll announced Monday morning. With the challenges of the COVID-19 global pandemic, three of the nation's top 25 programs still have yet to play a game this season. Several teams were removed from the NABC Top 25 following the announcement that they would no longer be eligible for the 2021 NCAA Division II Basketball Championship due to delayed season starts. LMU has spent a program record 21-straight weeks ranked in the top 10 dating back to Nov. 19, 2019. The Railsplitters have been a top-10 team for 91 total weeks and have appeared in the national polls a total of 140 weeks since December of 2010.
 
Costly Turnovers
The longest winning streak  among all levels of college basketball (39 games) came to an end this past Saturday afternoon when LMU dropped an 89-83 decision at Lenoir-Rhyne. It was the Railsplitters' first loss since Nov. 1, 2019, and their first road and SAC defeat since March 2, 2019. Snapping LMU's 27-game conference win streak, the host Bears scored 26 points off of a season-high 20 Railsplitter turnovers and capitalized on the Blue and Gray's sluggish opening half. LMU committed several offensive fouls and turned the ball over 12 times in the opening 20 minutes of play, finding itself trailing by as much as 18. After being down by 16 (45-29) at halftime, the Railsplitters nearly staged an impressive comeback in the second half. However, a 15-6 Lenoir-Rhyne run over a three-and-a-half minute stretch late proved to be the difference. Outscoring the Bears 54-44 on 55.2 percent shooting across the second period, LMU assisted on 10 of its 16 second-half baskets and trimmed down its turnovers to eight. Although the Railsplitters owned a plus-nine (40-31) advantage on the boards, LMU was outscored 30-26 in the paint and racked up 27 fouls. The Railsplitters shot just 42.9 percent from the field for the game and were 11-for-30 (36.7 percent) from three-point range, while the Bears shot over 40 percent (43.5) from distance and missed just one of their 26 free-throw attempts with a perfect 20-for-20 mark in the second half.
 
Whitfield Continues to Impress
Despite missing the season opener and playing a limited role at Coker (Nov. 24) in his first game of 2020-21, redshirt senior guard Devin Whitfield has been awe-inspiring. The Lipscomb, Alabama (McAdory HS), native has recorded six consecutive 20-point games behind a 58.9 percent shooting clip. During the stretch, Whitfield has collected back-to-back SAC AstorTurf Player of the Week honors on Dec. 21 and Jan. 4 and was named Tennessee Sports Writers Association (TSWA) Men's Basketball Player of the Week on Dec. 22. At Lenoir-Rhyne Saturday, Whitfield scored a team-high 21 points with four three pointers and grabbed six rebounds. Over his last six performances, Whitfield has averaged 24.5 points while shooting 42 percent from deep and going 20-for-23 (87 percent) at the free-throw line.
 
All LMU Does is Win
Coming off its best season in terms of winning percentage (.970), LMU has won 39 of its last 40 games. The Railsplitters' 39-straight victories from Nov. 2, 2019 – Jan. 6, 2021 set both a program and SAC record for consecutive wins. Having won 27 of its last 28 conference outings, LMU went an unblemished 22-0 in SAC play in 2019-20 for its third undefeated league season in the last five years. Finishing 32-1 overall last year, the Railsplitters have dropped just two games in the last 677 days.
 
Preseason Accolades
Both Whitfield, the 2020 SAC Tournament MVP, and redshirt junior guard Cameron Henry, the reigning SAC Defensive Player of the Year, were selected as preseason All-Americans by Basketball Times. The all-region tandem also landed a spot on the preseason All-SAC First Team and features two of the top returning players in all of Division II basketball. Whitfield has scored 1,692 points in his collegiate career and currently leads LMU in scoring (21.6 PPG), while Henry led the conference in steals (71) and was second in rebounding (8.0 RPG) in 2019-20. Henry's 2.1 steals per game this season are tied for the most of any Railsplitter and he is second on the team in both scoring (12.6 PPG) and assists (4.9 APG).
 
Versus the Saints
Wednesday night will be just the 12th all-time meeting between LMU and Limestone with the Railsplitters holding a slight 6-5 edge in the series. In the two team's lone encounter of the 2000's, a Division II Southeast Regional Championship semifinal matchup, LMU earned a 70-64 neutral-site victory in Charlotte, North Carolina, on March 12, 2017. The Railsplitters overcame a nine-point, 59-51 deficit with only six-and-a-half minutes remaining inside Queens University of Charlotte's Levine Center to secure LMU's second-straight Division II Southeast Regional title game appearance. Prior to that NCAA postseason meeting, the Railsplitters had not faced the Saints since 1994. LMU has not defeated Limestone in South Carolina and is 0-5 against the Saints in Gaffney. Wednesday will be the first regular season game between the two squads since Feb. 7, 1994, a slim one-point, 73-72 Railsplitter road loss.
 
About LMU Basketball
The second-winningest Division II program of the 2010's (.845), LMU has won 13 total SAC titles since 2011. Selected as the top seed and host of the Division II Men's Basketball Southeast Regional Championship four of the last six years, the Railsplitters have ended the season ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 three times in the last five seasons. The only school in Division II to have reached 30 wins in five of the last six years, LMU is one of only four Division II programs to have recorded 20 wins or more for 11-straight seasons. The Railsplitters have notched at least 25 wins and earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament nine of the last 10 seasons. Inside Tex Turner Arena LMU has registered the second-highest home court winning percentage in Division II basketball since 2010-11, going an impressive 157-11 (.935). The 157 home victories are the most among Division II programs in the last 11 years as the Railsplitters have posted three perfect seasons in Harrogate during that time.
 
About Coach Schertz
Since taking over the LMU basketball program, coach Schertz has amassed an astonishing 325-66 record over 13 seasons. Schertz' career winning percentage of .831 is tied for the second-highest of any head coach in men's college basketball history at any NCAA level (minimum 10 seasons). He is also tied for second with Gonzaga head coach Mark Few (.831) among active head coaches with at least 10 years at the helm – Jim Crutchfield, Nova Southeastern (.841). On Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020, coach Schertz reached his 300th career victory with a 76-64 conference home win over UVA Wise. Reaching the 300-win milestone in only 365 games as a head coach, the seven-time SAC Coach of the Year owns the second-most SAC victories with a phenomenal 205-37 (.847) league record.
 
About Limestone
Led by second-year head coach Kyle Perry, the Saints are winless in 2020-21 with a home loss versus then 10th-ranked Queens (66-58) and road defeats at Anderson (103-74), Coker (52-51) and then No. 19 Queens (99-70). Limestone also took on a pair of Division I programs in road exhibitions in late November, falling at James Madison (89-55) and the College of Charleston (99-59). In Perry's first season, the Saints went 4-24 and finished last in Conference Carolinas with a 3-17 league record. Prior to its inaugural season in the 13-team league, Limestone was picked to finish last in the SAC. Both 6-foot-2 senior guard Ayo Dada (13.5 PPG) and 6-foot-3 freshman guard Isayah Owens are averaging double-figure scoring, while 6-foot-5 junior forward Stephen Edoka is averaging seven points and six rebounds per outing. As a team, the Saints are shooting just 39.6 percent from the floor, 27.2 percent from beyond the arc and 68.4 percent at the foul line through four games.  
 
Looking Ahead
Saturday's scheduled tilt with Mars Hill has been postponed due to COVID-19 circumstances within the Lions' program. Updates to the Railsplitters' 2020-21 schedule will be announced later this week.
 
LMU L Club
Register to become an L Club member today. 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.  
 
Stay Up to Date
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 2020-21 season.