The Lincoln Memorial men's basketball team, coming off a 119-72 win over King on Wednesday night in the home opener, is set to travel to North Georgia for a noon tipoff on Saturday against the Nighthawks in Dahlonega.
 
The Railsplitters (4-1) scored the third-most points in a home opener in team history on Wednesday for an easy win over the Tornado. Six players scored in double figures, led by Me'Kell Burries with 16 points, and all 12 players who saw the court contributed at least five.
 
Lincoln Memorial opened the season ranked No. 6 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches Poll after a 2021-22 season when it went 26-5 (21-3 South Atlantic Conference) to claim a share of the SAC regular season championship and advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
 
RAILSPLITTER STRIKES

• Lincoln Memorial leads the SAC in average assists (23.2), blocks (3.8), rebounding margin (12.8) and 3-pointers made (11.8) per game so far in the young season. Across NCAA Division II nationally, the team's 99.0 points per game ranks seventh and its assists per game and field goal percentage (56.4) marks rank eighth going into this weekend's action.
• Chase Rankin paces the conference in assists per game with 7.2, which ranks seventh nationally, and total assists with 36 (most in the nation).
• Martez Brown leads Division II in total rebounds (47) and double-doubles (three), while ranking second in the SAC with 9.4 rebounds per game.
• Along with being ranked No. 6 in the NABC Preseason Poll, the Railsplitters were picked to win the SAC with 143 points including 11 first place votes.
• Redshirt sophomore guard Burries, senior forward Jordan Guest and graduate guard Rankin were all selected to the preseason All-SAC First Team.

SCOUTING NORTH GEORGIA: The Nighthawks enter the weekend at 3-0 after easy wins over Limestone, Erskine and Southern Wesleyan to begin the regular season. North Georgia leads the Peach Belt Conference in field goal percentage (57.4), rebounds per game (45.7) and rebounding margin (22.7), with those marks ranking sixth, eighth and first, respectively, across Division II.
 
Sophomore forward Frank Champion is second in the Peach Belt in assists per game (5.3), rebounds per game (10.3) and total rebounds (31) thus far. Fellow sophomore forward Giancarlo Bastianoni ranks second in the conference in field goal percentage at (71.4).
 
SAC Men's Basketball Standings (as of Nov. 18)
 
Mountain Division                Overall           Conference
Lincoln Memorial                4-1                   0-0
UVA Wise                               3-0                   0-0
Mars Hill                                 2-0                   0-0
Tusculum                                2-0                   0-0
Carson-Newman                   1-1                   0-0
Emory & Henry                      1-1                   0-0
 
Piedmont Division                Overall           Conference
Coker                                      3-0                   0-0
Lenoir-Rhyne                          2-0                   0-0
Wingate                                  2-0                   0-0
Catawba                                 2-1                   0-0
Newberry                                0-2                   0-0
Anderson                                0-3                   0-0
 
Up Next
The Railsplitters return home Wednesday for a 2 p.m. battle with Georgia College and State University on Thanksgiving Eve at Tex Turner Arena.