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The Lincoln Memorial men's basketball team will host in-state rival Tusculum in a battle of two top teams in the Southeast region on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Tex Turner Arena.
 
The Railsplitters (7-1, 1-0 South Atlantic Conference) handled Mars Hill 80-56 last Saturday in the conference opener to come in at No. 2 in the Nov. 28 D2SIDA Southeast Region Poll. The Pioneers, ranked fourth in the same poll, are 3-0 after a 106-83 win over Lees-McRae on Saturday.
 
Lincoln Memorial comes in at No. 11 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches Poll and No. 9 in the D2SIDA Poll released on Nov. 29, which are the highest rankings for teams with a loss.

RAILSPLITTER STRIKES

• Lincoln Memorial leads the SAC in average assists (20.0) and rebounds (41.3) per game and field goal percentage (52.9) so far in the young season. Across NCAA Division II nationally, the team's field goal percentage ranks seventh and assists per game rank eighth through Nov. 30.
• Chase Rankin leads the conference and ranks fourth in Division II in total assists (49). The graduate guard is second in the conference in assists per game at 6.1, which is good for 11^th nationally.
• Martez Brown's three double-doubles leads the league and is eighth across Division II, while his 70 total rebounds also pace the conference and rank fourth in the country.
• 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 Me'Kell Burries, senior forward Jordan Guest and Rankin were all selected to the preseason All-SAC First Team.

SCOUTING TUSCULUM: The Pioneers have lost exhibition games at Indiana State (86-53) and Furman (102-74) in addition to their three regular season wins against USC Aiken (94-85), Clayton State (88-77) and Lees-McRae (106-83). Tusculum leads the league and ranks fifth in the country in scoring offense at 96 points per game while also leading the SAC in assist/turnover ratio (1.63, 10^th in Division II) and turnover margin (+6.3, 16^th in Division II).
 
Senior guard Jalen Crowder's leads the country in 3-pointers made per game (4.33), while sophomore guard KJ Crump leads the SAC and ranks fifth in Division II in assist/turnover ratio (5.50).
 
SAC Men's Basketball Standings (as of Dec. 2)
 
Mountain Division                Overall           Conference
Lincoln Memorial                 7-1                   1-0
UVA Wise                               6-0                   0-0
Tusculum                               3-0                   0-0
Carson-Newman                    5-1                   0-0
Emory & Henry                      5-1                   0-0
Limestone                              2-4                   0-0
Mars Hill                                2-4                   0-1
 
Piedmont Division                Overall           Conference
Coker                                      5-2                   0-0
Newberry                                5-2                   0-0
Lenoir-Rhyne                          4-2                   0-0
Catawba                                 4-3                   0-0
Wingate                                  3-3                   0-0
Anderson                                2-5                   0-0
 
Up Next
The Railsplitters follow finals week with a road game at Emory & Henry on Dec. 10 at 4 p.m.