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The Lincoln Memorial men's basketball team returns to the road for a game at South Atlantic Conference contender at 4 p.m. on Saturday. The Railsplitters (21-2, 11-1 SAC) and Bulldogs (14-7, 9-3 SAC) are two of the league's top teams, with Lincoln Memorial sitting atop the Mountain Division and Wingate in second in the Piedmont Division. Lincoln Memorial is coming off an 84-69 win at rival Carson-Newman on Wednesday night in Jefferson City to sweep the regular season series with the Eagles. The Railsplitters are 29-11 all-time against the Bulldogs, including 11-6 on the road, but lost their most recent contest in Wingate 75-71 a season ago.
 
In the triumph over the Eagles on Wednesday, Quay Kennedy and Jordan Walters contributed 23 points each as the Railsplitters built a 20+ point lead for the balance of the second half to cruise past their rivals.
 
The host Bulldogs went 5-3 in January before winning 79-73 at Coker in their first game of February. Wingate is 6-3 defending its home court so far this season.
 
Lincoln Memorial was ranked No. 8 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches poll and No. 9 in the D2SIDA poll released on Jan. 31.
 
RAILSPLITTER STRIKES (through games played Jan. 31)

• Lincoln Memorial leads the SAC in assists per game (20.3, fourth in Division II), field goal percentage (52.5, first), rebounding margin (+9.6, seventh), scoring margin (+20.2, second) and scoring offense (90.0 points per game, sixth) so far this season.
• Chase Rankin stands at first in Division II in total assists (152) and sixth in assists per game (6.6). The graduate guard's 2.81 assist-to-turnover ratio leads the SAC.
• Martez Brown's 199 total rebounds leads the league and ranks No. 19 in the country.
• Matthew Sells has made 60 3-pointers this season, good for fourth in the conference and 35^th in Division II. The sophomore guard's 44.8 percent shooting from distance leads the league while being No. 16 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 WINGATE: The Bulldogs enter Saturday's battle leading the SAC in free throws made per game (15.8) while ranking second in assists per game (16.0) and third in scoring offense (83.2 points per game).
 
Junior guard Donell Nixon II leads the SAC and is 10^th nationally in free throw shooting (91.2 percent). Nixon's 2.57 assist-to-turnover ratio is second only to Rankin in the league.
 
SAC Men's Basketball Standings (as of Feb. 4)
 
Mountain Division                Overall           Conference
Lincoln Memorial                  21-2                 11-1
UVA Wise                               13-8                 6-6
Tusculum                                10-9                 6-6
Carson-Newman                     11-10               5-6
Limestone                               10-11               5-6
Emory & Henry                       13-8                 5-7
Mars Hill                                  5-15                 1-10
 
Piedmont Division                Overall           Conference
Catawba                                  14-5                 9-2
Wingate                                   14-7                 9-3
Newberry                                13-8                 6-5
Coker                                      11-11               5-7
Anderson                                7-14                 4-7
Lenoir-Rhyne                          8-12                 3-9
 
Up Next
The Railsplitters return Tex Turner Arena to host Emory & Henry on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.