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The Lincoln Memorial men's basketball team returns to Tex Turner Arena to take on Catawba in a battle of the two South Atlantic Conference divisional leaders. The Railsplitters (19-2, 9-1 SAC) sit atop the Mountain Division while the Indians (14-4, 9-1 SAC) pace the Piedmont Division in the league standings. Lincoln Memorial ranks No. 1 in the latest D2SIDA Southeast Regional rankings, while Catawba stands at No. 6. The Railsplitters will look to get back to their winning ways after an 80-78 loss at Tusculum on Wednesday night snapped their 18-game winning streak. Lincoln Memorial is 27-13 all-time against the Indians, including 17-2, but lost the last game played between the two schools 91-87 at Catawba last January.
 
In Wednesday night's setback at the rival Pioneers, Jordan Guest's 25 points and Chase Rankin's heroic personal run to give the visitors a 78-74 with 1:26 to play seemed to be enough to give the Railsplitters yet another second half comeback, but Tusculum scored the final six points of the contest for the upset.
 
The visiting Indians enter the matchup with a long winning streak of their own, taking eight games in a row for an unblemished mark in January. Catawba fell 80-77 to Coker on Dec. 14 in their most recent defeat and their only league loss of the season to this point.
 
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. 26)

• Lincoln Memorial leads the SAC in assists per game (20.3, fourth in Division II), field goal percentage (52.7, second), rebounding margin (+9.8, seventh), scoring margin (+20.8, second) and scoring offense (90.9 points per game, fifth) so far this season.
• Chase Rankin leads all of Division II in total assists at 142, while his 6.8 assists per game ranks fourth nationally. The graduate guard's 2.90 assist-to-turnover ratio leads the SAC.
• Martez Brown's 181 total rebounds leads the league and ranks No. 18 in the country.
• Matthew Sells has made 56 3-pointers this season, good for fourth in the conference and 29^th in Division II. The sophomore guard's 43.8 percent shooting from distance ranks third in the league and No. 23 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 CATAWBA: The Indians are adept at turning their opponents over, leading the SAC in steals per game (11.4, second in Division II), turnovers forced per game (17.56, 13^th) and turnover margin (+3.8 per game, 20^th). Catawba can also score the ball at a high clip, as its 83.8 points per game are third in the league and No. 22 in the country, while its 48.3 percent shooting from the field is second in the league and No. 36 nationally.
 
Junior guard Javeon Jones leads all of Division II in total steals (59) and steals per game (3.28) coming into Saturday's game. Senior forward Adrian Scarborough's 66.4 percent shooting from the field leads the SAC and ranks fifth nationally among qualifiers.
 
SAC Men's Basketball Standings (as of Jan. 28)
 
Mountain Division                Overall           Conference
Lincoln Memorial                  19-2                 9-1
Tusculum                                10-7                 6-4
UVA Wise                               12-7                 5-5
Carson-Newman                    11-9                 5-5
Limestone                               8-11                 3-6
Emory & Henry                       11-8                 3-7
Mars Hill                                 5-13                 1-8
 
Piedmont Division                Overall           Conference
Catawba                                  14-4                 9-1
Wingate                                   12-7                 7-3
Coker                                       11-9                 5-5
Newberry                                 11-8                 4-5
Anderson                                 6-13                 3-6
Lenoir-Rhyne                           8-10                 3-7
 
Up Next
The Railsplitters have a rematch with Carson-Newman in Jefferson City on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.