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The Lincoln Memorial men's basketball team plays at Tusculum on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in a rematch of the two rival schools. The Railsplitters bested the Pioneers 72-67 back on Dec. 3 at Tex Turner Arena behind 15 points on five 3-pointers from Matthew Sells in their second South Atlantic Conference game of the season. Lincoln Memorial is coming off a 73-62 win against Newberry to extend its winning streak to 18 games in a row. The Railsplitters are 142-44-1 all-time against the Pioneers including 51-33-1 as a visitor, with the Railsplitters having won the last four games games.
 
In Saturday afternoon's triumph over Newberry at Tex Turner Arena, Lincoln Memorial (19-1, 9-0 South Atlantic Conference) were led by Quay Kennedy's 27 points to come back from a seven-point second half deficit with under 12 minutes to play.
 
The host Pioneers enter the matchup with a 9-7 overall record (5-4 SAC), losing their two most recent games at Coker on Jan. 21 (69-59) and against Wingate on Jan. 14 (79-72).
 
Lincoln Memorial was ranked No. 3 in both the National Association of Basketball Coaches and D2SIDA polls released on Jan. 24, which is the team's highest ranking in both polls this season.
 
RAILSPLITTER STRIKES (through games played Jan. 24)

• Lincoln Memorial leads the SAC in assists per game (20.4, fourth in Division II), field goal percentage (53.2, second), rebounding margin (+10.4, fifth), scoring margin (+21.9, second) and scoring offense (91.6 points per game, fifth) so far this season.
• Chase Rankin leads all of Division II in total assists at 134, while his 6.7 assists per game ranks fourth nationally. The graduate guard's 2.85 assist-to-turnover ratio leads the SAC.
• Martez Brown's 179 total rebounds leads the league and ranks No. 14 in the country.
• Matthew Sells has made 55 3-pointers this season, good for fourth in the conference and 25^th in Division II. The sophomore guard's 44.7 percent shooting from distance ranks second in the league and No. 17 nationally.
• Rankin earned the SAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week honor on Jan. 16, while redshirt sophomore guard Me'Kell Burries won it on Jan. 9.
• Rankin was named to the Top 100 Watch List for the Bevo Francis Award on Jan. 15, which is given to the player who had the finest overall season within Small College Basketball.

SCOUTING TUSCULUM: The Pioneers are tied for second in the Mountain Division of the SAC with Carson-Newman. Tusculum shoots 74.5 percent at the free throw line which is third in the league. The Pioneers are fourth in the SAC in rebounding margin (+4.8) and steals per game (8.0).
 
Junior forward Inady Legiste leads the league in rebounding (10.1 per game) and double-doubles (10), ranking tenth and third in the those categories in Division II, respectively. Sophomore point guard KJ Crump is third in the SAC in assist/turnover ratio at 2.09.
 
SAC Men's Basketball Standings (as of Jan. 25)
 
Mountain Division                Overall           Conference
Lincoln Memorial                  19-1                 9-0
Carson-Newman                     11-8                 5-4
Tusculum                                 9-7                   5-4
UVA Wise                               11-7                 4-5
Limestone                               7-11                 3-6
Emory & Henry                       10-8                 2-7
Mars Hill                                 5-12                 1-7
 
Piedmont Division                Overall           Conference
Catawba                                  13-4                 7-1
Wingate                                   12-6                 7-2
Coker                                      11-8                 5-4
Newberry                                10-8                 3-5
Lenoir-Rhyne                           8-9                   3-6
Anderson                                5-13                 2-6
 
Up Next
The Railsplitters host Catawba in Tex Turner Arena on Saturday at 4 p.m.