HARROGATE, Tenn. – Getting back to its winning ways last Wednesday night in South Carolina, the sixth-ranked Lincoln Memorial University men's basketball team returns to game action Monday night inside B. Frank "Tex" Turner Arena. The first of back-to-back rare Monday night South Atlantic Conference affairs, the Railsplitters (8-1, 6-1 SAC) host The University of Virginia's College at Wise in a 7 p.m. tip-off in Harrogate.
 
The matchup, which was originally slated for Saturday, Dec. 5 but had to be postponed due to positive COVID-19 test results within the LMU program, will be the first of two between the Railsplitters and Cavaliers in nearly 48 hours. Wednesday night, LMU returns the trip to UVA Wise (0-7, 0-7) and takes on the Cavaliers at 8 p.m. in Wise, Virginia.
 
How to Follow
Monday night's tilt will be streamed live via SAC Live on Stretch Internet with the voice of the Railsplitters, Rusty Peace, providing play-by-play of the contest. Live statistics of the conference game can be followed by visiting LMURailsplitters.com. As usual, in-game updates will be available on LMU Railsplitter athletics' official Twitter account, @LMURailsplitter.
 
Presented by Holiday Inn, Sleep Inn and Econo Lodge, Monday's contest marks the first home game for the Railsplitters in nearly two weeks.
 
Limited Attendance
Due to the ongoing public health crisis of the COVID-19 global pandemic, LMU Athletics has a revised attendance policy for home basketball games during the 2020-21 season. Tex Turner Arena will have a limited capacity of 10% in an effort of promoting and prioritizing the health and safety of student-athletes and game day personnel. The following groups of individuals are the only permitted attendees for home LMU athletic events held inside Tex Turner Arena: student-athlete pass list designees, L Club members, 50 students, dignitaries and game day personnel. In line with LMU's COVID-19 policies and protocols, specific guidelines have been outlined to keep the health and safety of the LMU community the athletic department's top priority. For LMU Athletics' complete COVID-19 game day policies, please click here.
 
A Top-10 Staple
Despite its first loss in 435 days last 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 this past Tuesday, 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 this past Tuesday. Receiving five first-place votes, the Railsplitters sit atop the first regular season D2SIDA Southeast Region Poll announced last Monday. With the challenges of the COVID-19 global pandemic, two 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.
 
Among National Leaders
Continually striving to be elite on both ends of the floor, LMU is near the top in the nation in several offensive and defensive statistical categories including ranking:

• First in total assists (198)
• Second in total 3-point field-goals made (104)
• Second in assists per game (22.0)
• Fourth in total steals (76)
• Fourth in field-goal percentage (54.3 percent)
• Fifth in 3-point field-goal attempts (252)
• Fifth in scoring margin (23.6)
• Seventh in total rebounds (350)
• Seventh in scoring offense (93.6)
• Seventh in defensive rebounds per game (31.89)
• 10th in 3-point field goals per-game (11.6)
• 10th in free throws made (142)
• 11th in field-goal percentage defense (39.4 percent)

Marching Past the Saints
After suffering their first setback since Nov. 1, 2019, the Railsplitters rebounded in a big way this past Wednesday night in Gaffney, South Carolina. LMU dismantled host Limestone University 100-76 inside the Timken Center as the Railsplitters reached the century mark for the fourth time of 2020-21. Behind inspired offensive play, LMU claimed its first-ever win against the Saints on the road. The preseason All-American duo of Cameron Henry and Devin Whitfield combined for 47 points and the Railsplitters shot 54 percent from the field with 12 different scorers. For just the second time in program history (Nov. 8, 2019 vs. Clayton State), LMU was perfect at the free-throw line going 19-for-19. The fifth occasion of distributing more than 20 assists this season, the Railsplitters assists on 23 of its 34 made baskets and connected on 41.9 percent (13-of-31) of their three pointers. Outrebounding Limestone by 13, LMU got 32 points off the bench and scored 40 in the paint with seven offensive boards resulting in 11 second-chance points. Scoring 50 points in both halves, the Railsplitters limited the Saints to just 30 percent first-half shooting. After Limestone attempted to work itself back into the game about midway through the second half, a 24-7 LMU run put things out of reach and the Railsplitters led by as much as 36. Redshirt junior guard Henry led a quartet of double-figure scorers with his second double-double of 2020-21, notching 25 points and securing a season-high 12 rebounds. He also handed out five assists and made a steal while shooting 7-for-11 from the floor and going 9-for-9 at the foul line. Redshirt sophomore guard/forward Xavier Bledson was nearly equally impressive in the road win, scoring 13 points and not missing a shot from the field (4-4) or at the free-throw line (5-5). He grabbed a season-best eight boards, dished out five assists and made a steal in only 19 minutes of action.
 
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 Whitfield has been awe-inspiring. The Lipscomb, Alabama (McAdory HS), native has recorded seven consecutive 20-point games behind a 57.1 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 Limestone this past Wednesday, Whitfield scored 22 points on 7-for-15 shooting with four three pointers, five rebounds and a trio of assists. Over his last seven performances, Whitfield has averaged 24.1 points while shooting 41.7 percent from deep and going 24-for-27 (88.9 percent) at the charity stripe.
 
All LMU Does is Win
Coming off its best season in terms of winning percentage (.970), LMU has won 40 of its last 41 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 28 of its last 29 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 682 days.
 
Preseason Accolades
Both Whitfield, the 2020 SAC Tournament MVP, and 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 1,714 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 2.0 steals per game this season lead the Railsplitters and he is second on the team in scoring (14.0 PPG), rebounding (5.3 RPG) and assists (4.9 APG).
 
1K Scorers
Whitfield reached 1,000 career points a season ago and needs just 286 more points to get to 2,000, while Henry is only 147 points away from becoming the program's 31st 1,000-point scorer. With 907 of Whitfield's 1,714 career points coming during his two seasons at fellow Division II Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Whitfield is 193 points shy of becoming LMU's 32nd (or 31st) 1,000-point scorer. Senior guard Alex Dahling (654) and junior point guard Julius Brown (539) are also within reach of the coveted 1,000-point mark for their Railsplitter careers.
 
Versus the Cavaliers
Monday will be the 35th all-time meeting between LMU and UVA Wise, formerly named Clinch Valley College and UVa-Wise, with the Railsplitters owning a 25-9 lead in the series. Having won each of the last eight matchups with the Cavaliers, LMU has gone 16-2 versus UVA Wise in Harrogate. The Railsplitters have not lost to the Cavaliers inside Tex Turner Arena since Nov. 16, 1996 and LMU's last defeat at the hands of UVA Wise took place on Dec. 8, 2012, a one-point, 81-80 overtime affair in Wise, Virginia. Last winter, the Railsplitters won by average of 15 points in their two outings with the Cavaliers. Head coach Josh Schertz is 9-2 against UVA Wise.
 
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 326-66 record over 13 seasons. Schertz' career winning percentage of .832 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 (.832) 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 206-37 (.848) league record.
 
About UVA Wise
Led by eighth-year head coach Blake Mellinger, the Cavaliers are seeking their first triumph of 2020-21 as they enter Tex Turner Arena with both an overall and SAC record of 0-7. UVA Wise has been involved in a few high-scoring affairs but has fallen at Tusculum (109-96), at Wingate (98-86) and at Coker twice, 83-70 and 95-91 in overtime. The Cavaliers have been defeated at home by Tusculum (101-82), Lenoir-Rhyne (98-63) and most recently 15th-ranked Queens University of Charlotte (91-67) Saturday. Junior guard Cameron Whiteside, a 2020 All-SAC Second Team selection and a preseason All-SAC First Team pick, is one of the most prolific scorers in the nation. His 25.4 points per game lead the 13-team league and rank him among the top 10 scorers in the nation. At 6-foot-5, Whiteside is a 50 percent shooter and leads UVA Wise in rebounding (7.6 RPG). He is one of four Cavaliers averaging double-figure scoring as UVA Wise is scoring 79.3 points per outing thus far this year. Tyler Lloyd, a 6-foot-5 junior guard, is averaging 13.3 points per contest but has not seen the court since Dec. 6, while 6-foot-4 redshirt junior guard Briggs Parris (11.1 PPG) and 6-foot-5 junior forward Kaeleb Carter (10.3 PPG) are also both double-figure scorers. Drew Greene, a 6-foot-2 sophomore guard, leads the Cavaliers in assists (6.2 APG). Picked to finish 12th in the conference after finishing last in the then 12-team SAC a season ago, UVA Wise is giving up 96.4 points per game.
 
Looking Ahead
The Railsplitters head to Wise Wednesday night to face the Cavaliers once again. Tip-off from inside the David J. Prior Convocation Center is set for 8 p.m. Due to COVID-19 circumstances within Catawba's program, LMU's scheduled home game against the Indians on Saturday, Jan. 23 has been postponed. Further updates to the Railsplitters' schedule are expected early next 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.