WINGATE, N.C. – In between a pair of three-game homestands, the Lincoln Memorial University men's basketball team returns to game action in Wingate, North Carolina, Saturday afternoon against Wingate University inside Cuddy Arena. The fourth-ranked Railsplitters, who have won more games than any NCAA Division II men's basketball program in the country this season with a 13-1 overall record, wrap up a stretch of six contests in 12 days when they take on the host Bulldogs (7-5, 7-5 SAC). Leading the 13-team South Atlantic Conference and on a six-game win streak, LMU enters the weekend with an 11-1 league mark.  
 
How to Follow
Saturday afternoon's tilt will be streamed live via YouTube and live statistics of the conference matchup can be followed by visiting WingateBulldogs.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 118-36 (.766) 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 698 days, the Railsplitters have suffered just one true road defeat.
 
A Top-10 Staple
LMU is ranked among the nation's top five in both national polls. In the seventh National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II Top 25 regular season poll of 2020-21 announced earlier this week, the Railsplitters are No. 4. LMU received one first-place vote and is No. 2 in the third D2SIDA Media Poll of 2021, which was also released this past Tuesday. Receiving four first-place votes, the Railsplitters sit atop the third regular season D2SIDA Southeast Region Poll released this past Monday. 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. LMU has spent a program record 23-straight weeks ranked in the top 10 dating back to Nov. 19, 2019 and has held a top-five ranking a combined 59 weeks. The Railsplitters have been a top-10 team for 93 total weeks and have appeared in the national polls a total of 142 weeks since December of 2010.
 
Among National Leaders
Continually striving to be elite on both ends of the floor, LMU leads the nation or is near the top in several offensive and defensive statistical categories including ranking:

• First in total assists (326)
• First in assists per game (23.3)
• First in total three-point field goals made (170)
• First in three-point field goal attempts (422)
• First in total rebounds (595)
• Second in total steals (108)
• Second in defensive rebounds per game (33.5)
• Second in rebound margin (11.8)
• Third in scoring margin (26.6)
• Fourth in scoring offense (95.3)
• Fourth in three-point field goals per-game (12.1)
• Fifth in field-goal percentage (53.3 percent)
• Fifth in assist-turnover ratio (1.61)
• Fifth in field-goal percentage defense (38.3)
• Eighth in free throws made (206)
• Eighth in total rebounds per game (42.5)

Gritty Win
Overcoming a difficult shooting night with superb first-half defense and gritty play, the Railsplitters made timely baskets to earn their sixth-straight win this past Wednesday night inside B. Frank "Tex" Turner Arena against in-state rival Carson-Newman University. Behind a strong defensive performance and an inspired 27-point career night from redshirt sophomore guard/forward Xavier Bledson, LMU picked up a hard-fought 70-59 victory over the visiting Eagles. Winning their 26th consecutive game in Harrogate, the Railsplitters outrebounded Carson-Newman 44-40 in a physical 40 minutes of action that saw a combined 38 free-throw attempts. LMU scored 15 points off 15 Eagle turnovers, limited Carson-Newman to 39.3 percent shooting from the field including just 12.5 percent from distance, scored 20 points off the fastbreak, and benefitted from eight steals. Despite shooting 37.1 percent for the game and going 7-for-26 from deep, the Railsplitters assisted on 16 of their 23 made field goals. Building a 16-point lead by halftime, LMU was outscored 38-33 in the second half but showed great composure. Withstanding a late push by the Eagles, the Railsplitters grabbed key rebounds down the stretch and got clutch free throws from redshirt senior guard Devin Whitfield and junior point guard Julius Brown. Bledson went 8-for-17 from the field and 2-for-4 from beyond the arc while going 9-for-10 at the foul line, distributing four assists, and claiming a career-high three steals in the win.
 
Cam Can
Over the last six games redshirt junior guard Cameron Henry has been on an absolute tear. The Chesterfield, Virginia (Lloyd C. Bird HS), native has averaged 17.5 points, 10.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists in his last six outings. Shooting 55.9 percent from the field and 81.8 percent (18-of-22) at the free-throw line, Henry has made 12 steals and six blocks. He earned his first SAC AstroTurf Men's Basketball Player of the Week award of his career on Monday, Jan. 18 after leading a quartet of double-figure scorers with 25 points and 12 rebounds in LMU's 100-76 road win at Limestone on Wednesday, Jan. 13. Last weekend in the 117-64 home blowout of Limestone, Henry nearly registered a triple-double when he scored 14 points, grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, and dished out a game-best seven assists in only 25-and-a-half minutes of action. Despite struggling to find the bottom of the net during Wednesday night's victory over Carson-Newman, Henry secured a game-high 13 rebounds, made a block and earned a steal.
 
Willing Whitfield
Although he missed the season opener and played a limited role at Coker (Nov. 24) in his first game of 2020-21, Whitfield has been awe-inspiring. The Lipscomb, Alabama (McAdory HS), native posted 10 consecutive 20-point performances from Dec. 13 – Jan. 23 and has reached double figures in all but one game this season. Whitfield has already 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. Scoring 279 points through 12 games played, Whitfield is averaging 21.5 points and 5.2 rebounds while shooting 58 percent from the floor and 44.8 percent from beyond the arc. He ranks 20th nationally and is second in the league in scoring as his 47 made three pointers on 105 attempts are both national bests. The 6-foot-5 wing's 101 made field goals are the third-most in Division II basketball and he is fourth in the nation in total points and 14th in three pointers made per game (3.6).
 
All LMU Does is Win
Coming off their best season in terms of winning percentage (.970), the Railsplitters have won 45 of their last 46 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 33 of their last 34 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 694 days.
 
A Nice Response
Following their first defeat in 435 days at Lenoir-Rhyne (Jan. 9), the Railsplitters have responded by putting up some stunning numbers. With an average margin of victory of 30.7 over its last six wins, LMU has outscored its opponents by 184 points. Scoring 98.7 points per game, the Railsplitters have shot 52.1 percent from the field and 39.3 percent from deep with 13.2 made threes and 25.2 assists per contest. Owning the glass, LMU has averaged 47.7 rebounds per game and outrebounded its last six opponents by a 16.2 margin. The Railsplitters have assisted on 151 of their 215 made field goals (70.2 percent) during the six-game stretch.
 
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 1,820 points in his collegiate career and currently leads LMU in scoring (21.5 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 the second-most in the 13-team SAC and he is tops on the team in rebounding (7.0 RPG) while second in scoring (14.7 PPG) and assists (4.9 APG).
 
1K Scorers
Whitfield reached 1,000 career points a season ago and needs just 180 more points to get to 2,000, while Henry is only 67 points away from becoming the program's 31st 1,000-point scorer. With 907 of his 1,820 career points coming during his two seasons at fellow Division II Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Whitfield is just 87 points shy of becoming the Railsplitters' 32nd (or 31st) 1,000-point scorer. Dahling (700) and Julius Brown (587) are also within reach of the coveted 1,000-point mark for their LMU careers.
 
Versus the Bulldogs
Saturday will be the 38th all-time meeting between the Railsplitters and Wingate with LMU holding a 27-10 advantage in the series. Having won both of last season's matchups by an average margin of 30.5 points, the Railsplitters throttled the Bulldogs by 37 (113-76) in the two team's 2019-20 conference opener and LMU's most recent trip to Wingate, North Carolina. The Railsplitters own a 10-5 record against Wingate in North Carolina and have won 17 of their last 18 contests with the Bulldogs. Head coach Josh Schertz owns a 26-5 record versus Wingate.
 
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 161-11 (.936). The 161 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 331-66 record over 13 seasons. Schertz' career winning percentage of .834 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 211-37 (.851) league record.
 
About Wingate
Led by 13th-year head coach Brian Good, the Bulldogs sit in sixth place in the conference standings with both a SAC and overall record of 7-5. Wingate owns wins over Catawba (Nov. 28), UVA Wise (Dec. 2), then 10th-ranked Queens University of Charlotte on the road (Dec. 5), Mars Hill (Dec. 12), Newberry (Jan. 6) and Coker (Jan. 13 and Jan. 27). After losing their season opener at Tusculum on Nov. 21, the Bulldogs have suffered setbacks against Carson-Newman (Nov. 24 and Jan. 23), Newberry (Jan. 5) and Lenoir-Rhyne. Wingate was also defeated at Big Ten Conference member Maryland on Jan. 15 in an exhibition. With a 3-2 record inside Cuddy Arena in 2020-21 the Bulldogs are averaging 81 points per game while giving up 76.4. Picked to finish seventh in the 13-team league, Wingate barely missed out on last year's SAC Tournament after going 9-13 in conference play and finishing in ninth place in the final league standings with a 13-15 overall record. Preseason All-SAC Second Team 6-foot-1 redshirt junior guard Jarren Cottingham is averaging a team-best 18.3 points and 2.7 assists per game, while 6-foot redshirt junior guard Francis Sio is averaging 17.3 points and 2.7 assists as well. The Bulldogs also feature 6-foot-5 senior forward Miguel Priest, who has posted 9.8 points and a team-high 7.3 rebounds through 12 games.
 
Looking Ahead
The Railsplitters begin a three-game homestand Wednesday night against nationally-ranked Queens. Tip-off from inside Tex Turner Arena is scheduled for 8 p.m. LMU will then host Coker next Saturday, Feb. 6 at 4:30 p.m. and Catawba the following Monday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m.
 
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.