HARROGATE, Tenn. – Playing five games within a nine-day period and six within a 12-day stretch, the Lincoln Memorial University men's basketball team is back in action Monday night inside B. Frank "Tex" Turner Arena in Harrogate. The fifth-ranked Railsplitters, who sit at 11-1 overall and 9-1 in South Atlantic Conference play, will go for their fifth-straight win when they host Mars Hill University in an 8 p.m. tip.
 
Hosting three teams within five days, LMU is seeking its 25th consecutive home victory. The visiting Lions (0-3, 0-3 SAC) have not played since Dec. 19, 2020 due to COVID-19 circumstances within the program.
 
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 matchup 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 Home Federal Bank, Monday night's game was originally scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 16.  
 
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
On a four-game win streak, the Railsplitters are ranked among the nation's top five in both national polls. In the sixth National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II Top 25 regular season poll of 2020-21 announced this past Tuesday afternoon, LMU is No. 5. The Railsplitters received one first-place vote and are No. 2 in the second D2SID Media Poll of 2021, which was also released this past Tuesday afternoon. Receiving four first-place votes, LMU sits atop the second regular season D2SIDA Southeast Region Poll announced this past Monday morning. Due to the difficulties of the COVID-19 global pandemic, at least one of the nation's top 25 programs has still 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. The Railsplitters have spent a program record 22-straight weeks ranked in the top 10 dating back to Nov. 19, 2019 and have held a top-5 ranking a combined 58 weeks. LMU has been a top-10 team for 92 total weeks and has appeared in the national polls a total of 141 weeks since December of 2010.
 
Among National Leaders
Continually striving to be elite on both ends of the floor, the Railsplitters lead nation or are near the top in several offensive and defensive statistical categories including ranking:

• First in total assists (286)
• First in assists per game (23.8)
• First in total three-point field goals made (153)
• Second in field-goal percentage (55.2 percent)
• Second in defensive rebounds per game (32.7)
• Second in three-point field goal attempts (360)
• Third in three-point field goals per-game (12.8)
• Third in total rebounds (488)
• Third in rebound margin (11.9)
• Fourth in scoring offense (96.8)
• Fifth in total steals (93)
• Fifth in scoring margin (27.5)
• Eighth in assist-turnover ratio (1.63)
• 11th in field-goal percentage defense (38.9)
• 11th in three-point field goal percentage (42.5)
• 13th in free throws made (175)

Offensive Eruption
Turning in its finest performance of the season thus far, LMU coupled its explosive offense with superb defense Saturday afternoon against Limestone University. Completing the regular season sweep of the visiting Saints, the Railsplitters won their 24th-straight home game with an impressive 117-64 final score. The 53-point margin of victory was LMU's largest of 2020-21 and the Railsplitters recorded the 10th-best shooting percentage in a single game in program history in the process. Shooting 64.2 percent and collecting 30 assists for the second-straight game, LMU knocked down 15 of its 28 three-point attempts and outscored Limestone 56-16 in the paint. Fourteen of 15 Railsplitters who saw game action scored and LMU got 51 points from its bench. Committing just 10 turnovers, the Railsplitters held the Saints to 31.3 percent shooting, including just 25 percent from outside. The 117 points representing a season high, LMU reached the century mark for the sixth time of the season. The Railsplitters were overwhelming in the first half and continued their torrid pace down the stretch behind inspired play off the bench. True freshmen Nekhi Smith and Tyler McKinney both hit their first collegiate three pointers and redshirt freshman guard Me'Kell Burries scored a career-high eight points on 3-for-3 shooting. Redshirt sophomore guard/forward Xavier Bledson, who leads the SAC and ranks in the top 30 nationally in assists per game (5.4 APG), finished with a career-high 19 points to go along with five assists and four rebounds in 20 minutes of action.
 
Henry Claims first Career SAC Player of the Week Honor
For the fourth time in 2020-21 an LMU player was selected as SAC AstroTurf Men's Basketball Player of the Week last Monday when redshirt junior guard Cameron Henry picked up his first career player of the week award from the league. He received the weekly plaudit after leading a quartet of double-figure scorers with 25 points and 12 rebounds in the Railsplitters' 100-76 road win at Limestone on Wednesday, Jan. 13. In three games this past week, Henry has been just as dominant. The 6-foot-6 wing averaged a double-double of 18.7 points and 10 rebounds while also distributing five assists per game, making eight steals, blocking four shots, and shooting 63.6 percent from the field. Henry had his best game thus far of 2020-21 in LMU's 92-66 win at UVA Wise last Wednesday night, notching his third double-double of the season with a season-high 28 points and season-best 14 rebounds. He followed up that performance by nearly registering a triple-double Saturday against the Saints when he scored 14 points, grabbed a game-high nine boards and dished out a game-best seven assists in only 25-and-a-half minutes.
 
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 posted 10 consecutive 20-point outings behind a 57.8 percent shooting clip. During the stretch, Whitfield has collected back-to-back SAC AstroTurf 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. On Saturday versus Limestone, Whitfield did nothing but continue his outstanding play with a game-high 24 points on 9-for-15 shooting. He also secured seven rebounds in the blowout, made a pair of steals and earned a block. Over his last 10 performances, Whitfield has averaged 24.6 points, scored 246 total points, shot 45.1 percent from deep and gone 27-for-32 (84.4 percent) at the free-throw line.
 
All LMU Does is Win
Coming off their best season in terms of winning percentage (.970), the Railsplitters have won 43 of their last 44 games. LMU's 39-straight victories from Nov. 2, 2019 – Jan. 6, 2021 set both a program and SAC record for consecutive wins. Having won 31 of their last 32 conference outings, the Railsplitters went an unblemished 22-0 in SAC play in 2019-20 for their third undefeated league season in the last five years. Finishing 32-1 overall last year, LMU has dropped just two games in the last 689 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 1,791 points in his collegiate career and currently leads the Railsplitters in scoring (22.7 PPG), while Henry led the conference in steals (71) and was second in rebounding (8.0 RPG) in 2019-20. Henry's 2.2 steals per game this season lead the 13-team SAC and he is tops on the team in rebounding (6.5 RPG) while second in scoring (15.2 PPG) and assists (4.9 APG).
 
1K Scorers
Whitfield reached 1,000 career points a season ago and needs just 209 more points to get to 2,000, while Henry is only 91 points away from becoming the program's 31st 1,000-point scorer. With 907 of his 1,791 career points coming during his two seasons at fellow Division II Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Whitfield is just 116 points shy of becoming LMU's 32nd (or 31st) 1,000-point scorer. Senior guard Alex Dahling (687) and junior point guard Julius Brown (563) are also within reach of the coveted 1,000-point mark for their Railsplitter careers.
 
Versus the Lions
Monday night represents the 49th all-time meeting between LMU and Mars Hill with the Railsplitters owning a comfortable 39-9 lead in the series. Having gone 21-4 against the Lions in Harrogate, LMU is on a 23-game winning streak versus Mars Hill. The Railsplitters have not lost to the Lions since Jan. 23, 2010, a 96-92 overtime setback inside Tex Turner Arena. In three meetings with Mars Hill last season LMU won by an average margin of 28.7 points, including the 2020 SAC Tournament quarterfinal matchup between the two teams on March 4. In what proved to be the Railsplitters' final home game of 2019-20, LMU defeated the Lions by a convincing 101-65 score. Head coach Josh Schertz is 24-2 against Mars Hill.
 
About LMU Basketball
The second-winningest Division II program of the 2010's (.845), the Railsplitters have 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, LMU has 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, the Railsplitters are one of only four Division II programs to have recorded 20 wins or more for 11-straight seasons. LMU has notched at least 25 wins and earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament nine of the last 10 seasons. Inside Tex Turner Arena the Railsplitters have registered the second-highest home court winning percentage in Division II basketball since 2010-11, going an impressive 159-11 (.935). The 159 home victories are the most among Division II programs in the last 11 years as LMU has posted three perfect seasons in Harrogate during that time.
 
About Coach Schertz
Since taking over the Railsplitter basketball program, coach Schertz has amassed an astonishing 329-66 record over 13 seasons. Schertz' career winning percentage of .833 is the second-highest of any head coach in men's college basketball history at any NCAA level (minimum 10 seasons). He is in second place just ahead of 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 209-37 (.850) league record.
 
About Mars Hill
Led by fifth-year head coach Vic Finora the Lions have played a total of just four games this season including an exhibition. Having not played a game in 37 days, Mars Hill did not compete in the month of November and began its season with a 98-50 exhibition loss at Division I Radford (Dec. 9). The Lions then fell 89-69 at Wingate on Dec. 12 before dropping a 69-65 decision to Lenoir-Rhyne in Mars Hill, North Carolina, on Dec. 16. In its last game on Dec. 19, Mars Hill was narrowly defeated by Catawba 83-81 in overtime at home. Picked to finish 10th in the 13-team conference, the Lions earned the No. 8 seed for last year's SAC Tournament after tying for sixth place in the league with Lenoir-Rhyne and Newberry. Mars Hill went 10-12 in SAC play last season and 12-17 overall. Featuring preseason All-SAC Second Team 6-foot-5 junior guard Javonte Cooke, the Lions' 6-foot-4 sophomore guard Trey Belin (17.0 PPG) and 5-foot-9 senior guard Reggie Wright (16.0 PPG) are both averaging double-figure scoring. Jamal Bryant, a 6-foot-4 senior guard, leads the team in rebounding (10.0 RPG) and is averaging 9.7 points through three games.
 
Looking Ahead
LMU wraps up its three-game homestand Wednesday night when the Railsplitters welcome in-state rival Carson-Newman to Tex Turner Arena for an 8 p.m. tip-off. On Saturday, Jan. 30, LMU travels to Wingate for a 4:30 p.m. tilt inside Cuddy Arena in Wingate, North Carolina.  
 
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.