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The Lincoln Memorial men's basketball team hosts Lees-McCrae on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Tex Turner Arena in its final game on the 2022 calendar. The Railsplitters are 9-0 all-time against the Bobcats, having won 100-80 in their last meeting on Nov. 10, 2017 in Banner Elk, N.C.
 
Lincoln Memorial (12-1, 4-0 SAC) handled Erskine 86-54 on Dec. 19 in its last game before Christmas Break. The Railsplitters were led to victory by the trio of Jordan Walters (16 points, five rebounds), Martez Brown (16 points, 11 rebounds) and Chase Rankin (15 points, eight assists and six rebounds). Lees-McRae, playing in the Conference Carolinas, enters the game with a 5-8 overall record (1-5 CC), having played common opponents Mars Hill (W 81-63 on Nov. 18 and W 69-67 on Dec. 19) and King (L 96-86 on Nov. 30). The Bobcats opened the regular season with a 73-70 win over Carson-Newman on Nov. 11 but have lost games against other South Atlantic Conference foes UVA Wise, Lenoir-Rhyne and Tusculum for a 3-3 record against SAC schools so far this season.
 
Lincoln Memorial was ranked No. 8 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches Poll and No. 7 in the D2SIDA Poll released on Dec. 13, which are the highest rankings for teams with a loss.
 
RAILSPLITTER STRIKES (through games played Dec. 19)

• Lincoln Memorial leads the SAC in assists per game (19.5, fourth in Division II), field goal percentage (53.2, third), rebounding margin (+11.8, fourth), scoring margin (+20.7, fourth) and scoring offense (90.6 points per game, seventh) so far this season.
• Chase Rankin ranks second in the conference and fifth in Division II in total assists at 78, while his 6.0 assists per game rank 12^th nationally. The graduate guard's 2.52 assist-to-turnover ratio leads the SAC.
• Martez Brown's 110 total rebounds leads the league and ranks No. 18 in the country.
• Matthew Sells has made 37 3-pointers this season, good for second in the conference and 13^th in Division II. The sophomore guard's 46.8 percent shooting from distance leads the league while ranking No. 18 nationally.
• 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 LEES-McRAE: The Bobcats had exhibition losses at Division I opponents NC State (107-59) on Nov. 2 and High Point (100-83) on Nov. 15. Lees-McRae went 15-14 a season ago. The team leads the conference and ranks 12^th nationally with 4.8 blocks per game while its scoring offense (77.5 points per game) ranks fifth in the league.
 
Redshirt senior Justin Nichelson's 18 blocks are good for third in the Conference Carolinas while junior guard Timon Jones has made 27 3-pointers to rank third in the league.
 
SAC Men's Basketball Standings (as of Dec. 22)
 
Mountain Division                Overall           Conference
Lincoln Memorial                  12-1                 4-0
Carson-Newman                     10-2                 4-0
Tusculum                                 5-4                   2-2
Emory & Henry                        8-4                   1-3
UVA Wise                                7-4                   1-3
Limestone                                3-7                   1-3
Mars Hill                                  2-8                   0-3
 
Piedmont Division                Overall           Conference
Catawba                                  7-4                   3-1
Wingate                                   7-4                   3-1
Coker                                       8-5                   2-2
Newberry                                 7-5                   1-2
Lenoir-Rhyne                           6-4                   1-2
Anderson                                 3-9                   1-2
 
Up Next
The Railsplitters return to conference play with a game at UVA Wise on Jan. 4 at 7:30 p.m.