HARROGATE, Tenn. – On the heels of its league record ninth South Atlantic Conference regular season championship in 11 years, the Lincoln Memorial University men's basketball team begins its 2020-21 postseason journey late Sunday afternoon as the No. 2 seed in the 2021 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Championship. The 13th-ranked Railsplitters (16-3) return to game action following a 25-day layoff from competition due to complexities with COVID-19 contact tracing that canceled LMU's final two regular season games and kept the Blue and Gray out of the 2021 SAC Pilot Flying J Men's Basketball Championship.
 
Having won 28-straight games inside B. Frank "Tex" Turner Arena, the Railsplitters will tip off the first semifinal of the Division II Southeast Regional Championship Sunday at 5 p.m. against sixth-seeded Tusculum University. The Pioneers (14-5) defeated third-seeded Carson-Newman (16-6) in a 65-63 overtime thriller in the regional championship's first quarterfinal Saturday evening.
 
Both LMU and top-seeded Belmont Abbey College out of Conference Carolinas received quarterfinal byes in the Division II Southeast Regional Championship.
 
How to Follow
Sunday's regional championship semifinal matchup will be streamed live via SAC Live on Stretch Internet with the voice of the Railsplitters, Rusty Peace, providing play-by-play of the game and former LMU men's basketball head coach and 2012 LMU Athletes Hall of Fame inductee L.J. Kilby supplying color commentary. Live statistics of the NCAA regional tilt can be followed by visiting LMURailsplitters.com. As usual, in-game updates will be available on LMU Railsplitter athletics' official Twitter account, @LMURailsplitter.
 
A Ninth Top-Two NCAA Southeast Regional Championship Seed
For the ninth time in program history the Railsplitters are a top-two seed in the Division II Southeast Regional Championship. Making eight consecutive NCAA Championship appearances from 2011-18, LMU has earned 10 regional championship berths in 11 seasons. Claiming their second-straight Division II Southeast Reginal Championship bid, the Railsplitters were the No. 1 seed for the 2020 NCAA Southeast Regional Championship a year ago prior to the COVID-19 global pandemic shutting everything down. The only year LMU was not selected as a top-two seed in the Division II Southeast Regional Championship out of its 10 berths was in 2012 at People's Bank and Trust Arena in Montevallo, Alabama.
 
Hosting Again
The NCAA Division II Championships Committee chose predetermined regional sites for the 2021 NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Basketball Championships and for the fifth time in seven years Tex Turner Arena was selected to host the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Southeast Regional Championship. Due to the health and safety protocols surrounding the COVID-19 global pandemic, it was deemed necessary to conduct all NCAA championship competition at predetermined sites. It marks the fourth time in seven years the Division II Southeast Regional Championship has taken place in Harrogate after last year's regional championship was canceled just two days before tip-off.
 
NCAA Championship History
Having reached back-to-back Final Fours in 2016 and 2017, the Railsplitters are 15-8 all-time in NCAA Championship games. LMU won the 2016 Division II Southeast Regional Championship with a 103-80 victory over Lenoir-Rhyne inside Tex Turner Arena and was also triumphant at the 2017 Division II Southeast Regional Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina, the following year, ousting top-seeded and host Queens University of Charlotte, 82-68. Holding a 12-6 record in NCAA regional championships, the Railsplitters have posted an impressive 8-1 record over its last three Division II Southeast Regional Championship appearances. LMU is 7-1 in regional championship openers and has won seven straight dating back to its first NCAA regional championship appearance in 2011.
 
Nine Times as Nice
No other SAC program has won more regular season crowns as the Railsplitters surpassed Lenoir-Rhyne in capturing their ninth title in late February, doing so in just 11 seasons. Now with 14 combined, regular season and conference tournament, SAC championships since 2011, LMU is tied for the league record (Catawba) for total SAC titles. The Railsplitters finished their conference slate 14-3, securing the most victories and highest winning percentage (.824) in the 13-team league. Per the SAC's men's basketball policies, the team with the highest winning percentage based on games against conference opponents shall be declared the conference champion. Finishing a half game ahead of league runner-up Queens (13-3, .813), LMU was able to win the SAC despite having its final two regular season games canceled, along with its home contest against Coker (Feb. 6).
 
A Top-10 Staple
Entering NCAA postseason play, the Railsplitters are ranked among the nation's top 15 in both national polls. In the final National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II Top 25 poll of 2020-21 announced this past Tuesday afternoon, LMU is No. 13 for the second consecutive week. The Railsplitters are 15th in the ninth D2SIDA Media Poll of 2021 for the second-straight week as well, which was also released this past Tuesday afternoon. LMU has spent a program record 29-straight weeks ranked in the top 15 dating back to Nov. 19, 2019. The Railsplitters have appeared in the national polls a total of 148 weeks since December of 2010. The 2021 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Southeast Regional Championship features four nationally-ranked programs, including No. 13 LMU as the highest-ranked team. Top-seeded Belmont Abbey is ranked No. 19 in the NABC Top 25, while Queens is No. 22 in the coaches poll and Carson-Newman No. 23.
 
Among National Leaders
Continually striving to be elite on both ends of the floor, the Railsplitters lead the nation or are near the top in several offensive and defensive statistical categories including ranking:

• First in total assists (433)
• First in assists per game (22.8)
• First in defensive rebounds per game (32.95)
• Third in total three-point field goals made (228)
• Third in scoring margin (22.5)
• Third in three-point field goals per-game (12)
• Third in field-goal percentage (52.7 percent)
• Fifth in scoring offense (92.9)
• Sixth in field-goal percentage defense (39.5)
• Seventh in assist-turnover ratio (1.59)
• Eighth in rebound margin (8.8)
• 10th in total rebounds per game (41.56)
• 10th in three-point field goal attempts (559)
• 15th in total rebounds (785)

All-SAC Recognition for Whitfield and Henry
Two of the best guards in the nation, redshirt senior Devin Whitfield and redshirt junior Cameron Henry, landed All-SAC accolades to begin the month of March. Whitfield picked up his second-straight All-SAC First Team honor, while Henry was selected to the All-SAC Second Team for the second consecutive season. The preseason All-American and 2020 all-region duo put together another outstanding campaign throughout the regular season, accounting for 36.2 percent of LMU's scoring. Representing the team's top two scorers, Whitfield averaged 20.1 points in 18 regular season outings and Henry 14.6 points in 19 games.
 
The 2020 SAC Pilot Flying J Men's Basketball Championship MVP, Whitfield led the 13-team league in field goal percentage (56.3) among those who met NCAA minimums, total field goals made (129), three pointers made per game (3.4), total three pointers made (61), three-point field goal percentage (43.6) and three-point attempts (140). He ranks ninth in the nation in three pointers made per game, 12th in made threes, 24th in three-point field goal attempts and 29th in three-point field goal percentage. The Lipscomb, Alabama (McAdory HS), native has scored in double figures in all but two games he has competed in after missing the season opener and playing a limited role in the second game of the year at Coker (Nov. 24). Whitfield put together an astonishing run of 10-straight 20-point showings from Dec. 13 to Jan. 23, which included a pair of 30-point outings.
 
The 2020 SAC Defensive Player of the Year and a 2020 Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) selection, Henry was second in the conference in 2020-21 in both steals per game (2.1) and total steals (40). He also ranked among the top 10 players in the SAC in assists per game (4.4), field goal percentage (50.5), total assists (83), blocks (12), made field goals (100), points scored (277), total rebounds (113) and defensive rebounds per game (5.3). He is among the top 25 players in the country in both steals and steals per game while contributing 5.9 rebounds per game. A native of Chesterfield, Virginia (Lloyd C. Bird HS), Henry posted double-figure scoring in 14 different regular season games and reached 20 points on five occasions. With a trio of double-doubles, Henry has reached double-digit rebounding three times and came just one rebound shy of a triple-double in the 78-57 victory at Coker on Nov. 24.
 
1K Scorers
Whitfield reached 1,000 career points a season ago and needs just 97 more points to get to 2,000, while Henry became the program's 31st 1,000-point scorer with a first-half three pointer at Tusculum on Wednesday, Feb. 17. With 907 of his 1,903 career points coming during his two seasons at fellow Division II Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Whitfield is just four points shy of becoming the Railsplitters' 32nd 1,000-point scorer. Senior guard Alex Dahling (742) and junior point guard Julius Brown (632) are also within reach of the coveted 1,000-point mark for their LMU careers.
 
A Shot at Redemption
Looking to avenge what ended up being the Railsplitters' regular season finale, LMU gets another shot at Tusculum late Sunday afternoon. The Railsplitters were overpowered by the host Pioneers 90-74 back on Feb. 17 in what turned out to be LMU's most recent tilt. Tusculum handed the Railsplitters back-to-back losses for the first time in nearly two full years inside Pioneer Arena in Greeneville, Tennessee. LMU was unable to match the physicality of the Pioneers and fell to 5-3 away from home in 2020-21 after being hampered by costly turnovers and poor defensive rebounding. Committing 19 turnovers and allowing Tusculum to claim 14 offensive boards, the Railsplitters were outscored 38-34 in the paint and trailed from the 6:15 mark of the first half onward. The Pioneers imposed their will by nabbing 15 steals, scoring 30 points off turnovers and getting 17 second-chance points. Despite both teams shooting around 45 percent for the game, LMU could not find its stroke from outside and went 7-for-24 from deep for the night, including going just 2-for-11 in the second half. The Railsplitters also struggled at the free-throw line, making only 60.7 percent (17-of-28) of their foul shots and going 11-for-20 at the charity stripe across the final 20 minutes of the contest. Tusculum hit 37 percent of its three-point attempts (10-of-27) and was 6-for-15 from beyond the arc in the second half. Leading by as much as 20 down the stretch, the Pioneers shot 45.8 percent from the field for the game and limited LMU to 44.6 percent shooting.
 
All LMU Does is Win
Coming off their best season in terms of winning percentage (.970), the Railsplitters have 48-4 over the past two seasons. LMU's 39-straight victories from Nov. 2, 2019 – Jan. 6, 2021 set both a program and SAC record for consecutive wins. Having won 36 of their last 39 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 only four games in the last 738 days.
 
Versus the Pioneers
Wednesday will be the 184th all-time meeting between the Railsplitters and Tusculum with LMU having won 138 of the matchups. Dominating the series as a whole and nearly unblemished against the Pioneers as of late, the Railsplitters have been victorious versus Tusculum 28 times in the last 30 meetings dating back to January of 2010. LMU is a remarkable 80-11 (.879) against the Pioneers in Harrogate and has not lost to Tusculum inside Tex Turner Arena since Dec. 3, 2005. Beginning the new year, the Railsplitters spoiled the Pioneers' 2021 start by claiming a 103-82 win over Tusculum on Jan. 2. With the Pioneers arriving in Harrogate as the 24th-ranked team in the nation, LMU reached the century mark for the third consecutive game and earned its second top-25 victory of the season. The win marked the Railsplitters' 38th consecutive triumph as LMU shot 60 percent from the field, scored 59 second-half points, forced 21 Tusculum turnovers and obtained a season-high 36 free-throw attempts. Coach Schertz is 29-3 versus the Pioneers.
 
About LMU Basketball
The second-winningest Division II program of the 2010's (.845), the Railsplitters have won 14 total SAC titles since 2011. Selected as the top seed of the Division II Men's Basketball Southeast Regional Championship four of the last seven years, LMU has ended the season ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 three times in the last six seasons. The only school in Division II to have reached 30 wins in five of the last seven 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 nine of the last 11 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 163-11 (.937). The 163 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 334-68 record over 13 seasons. Schertz' career winning percentage of .831 is the third-highest of any head coach in men's college basketball history at any NCAA level (minimum 10 seasons). He is just behind Gonzaga head coach Mark Few (.834) and Nova Southeastern leader Jim Crutchfield (.841) among active head coaches with at least 10 years at the helm. 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 214-39 (.846) league record.
 
About Tusculum
Led by third-year head coach J.T. Burton, the Pioneers finished third in the SAC with a 12-4 conference record. Yet to play a non-conference opponent in 2020-21, Tusculum earned the No. 2 seed for the SAC Pilot Flying J Men's Basketball Championship and defeated Catawba 93-70 in the quarterfinals on March 1. The Pioneers suffered a one-point, 60-59 loss in the waning seconds against eventual SAC tournament champion Carson-Newman in the semifinals on March 4 before avenging their narrow defeat Saturday evening inside Tex Turner Arena. A near buzzer-beating game winner at the end of regulation gave way to clinching free throws in the final minute of overtime as Tusculum earned its first-ever NCAA regional championship victory. Junior guard Trenton Gibson, the 2021 SAC Player of the Year, scored a game-high 22 points in the Pioneers' 65-63 upset of the third-seeded Eagles while pulling down eight boards and distributing five assists. Leading the conference in steals during the regular season (140), Tusculum also features All-SAC honorable mention senior guard James West IV and SAC All-Freshman forward Inady Legiste. Gibson leads the team in points (18.9 PPG), rebounds (8.2 RPG) and assists (5.1 APG), while West IV is averaging 15.3 points per game and Legiste 8.5 points and 5.7 rebounds.
 
Looking Ahead
With a semifinal win on Sunday LMU can punch its ticket to the 2021 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Southeast Regional Championship title game, which will take place Tuesday, March 16 at 7 p.m. Top-seeded Belmont Abbey takes on fourth-seeded Emmanuel College Sunday night in the regional championship's second semifinal. The Lions ousted fifth-seeded Queens 80-78 Saturday night in the second quarterfinal game.
 
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.