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Fresh off a 76-63 win over No. 6 seed Lander in the NCAA Tournament First Round, the Lincoln Memorial men's basketball team is set for a rematch with No. 7 seed North Georgia on Sunday at 5 p.m. in Augusta's Christenberry Fieldhouse. The Railsplitters (28-4) and Nighthawks (21-7) squared off back on Nov. 19 in Dahlonega, when Lincoln Memorial pulled out an 87-86 win in its first true road game of the season. Chase Rankin went for a team-best 21 points and added five assists, three rebounds and two steals in the tight contest.
 
Lincoln Memorial and North Georgia are all square at 6-6 in their series history, with the most recent matchup before this season being back in 2008.
 
In the Regional Quarterfinal win over the Bearcats, the Railsplitters rode a strong second half defense, limiting Lander to 32.1 percent field goal shooting after the break, after holding a 37-35 advantage at halftime to advance to the next round. Quay Kennedy had a team-best 14 points and nine rebounds to lead Lincoln Memorial to victory.
 
North Georgia boasts Peach Belt and Southeast Region Player of the Year Frank Champion, who averages 20.5 points, 9.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game while shooting 60 percent from the field. The sophomore forward out of Lithonia, Ga., went for 24 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in the first meeting between the Railsplitters and Nighthawks.
 
Lincoln Memorial was ranked No. 11 in the D2SIDA poll released Wednesday and No. 12 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches poll from Tuesday.
 
RAILSPLITTER STRIKES (through games played March 5)

• Lincoln Memorial leads the SAC in assists per game (19.9, fourth in Division II), field goal percentage (52.2, first), rebounding margin (+9.2, fourth), scoring margin (+17.5, fourth) and scoring offense (88.5 points per game, eighth).
• Rankin stands at first in Division II in both total assists (225) and assists per game (7.3). The graduate guard's 3.21 assist-to-turnover ratio leads the SAC and ranks ninth nationally.
• Martez Brown's 281 total rebounds leads the league and ranks No. 11 in the country.
• Matthew Sells has made 73 3-pointers this season, good for fourth in the conference.
• 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 and Feb. 28. Quay Kennedy earned the honor on Feb. 6.
• Rankin and Kennedy were voted First Team All-SAC, while Burries landed on the Third Team in the vote of the league's coaches as announced last week by the conference office.
• Rankin advanced to being named to the Top 50 Watch List for the Bevo Francis Award on Feb. 15, which is given to the player who had the finest overall season within Small College Basketball. The point guard was also voted Second Team All-Region by the Division II Conference Commissioners Association.
• Jordan Walters won the Elite 23 Award, which is presented to the student-athlete in the SAC with the highest GPA in his sport.

SCOUTING NORTH GEORGIA: The Nighthawks finished third in the Peach Belt regular season standings (13-5) before falling to Columbus State 74-69 in the quarterfinals of their conference tournament. North Georgia defeated No. 2 seed and No. 8 nationally ranked UNC Pembroke 76-58 on Saturday afternoon to move on to the next round. The Nighthawks are 8-3 at home, 9-3 on the road and 4-1 at neutral sites. North Georgia defeated Limestone 77-56 in its season opener Nov. 11 in its only other game against a SAC foe this season.
 
North Georgia's 50.3 percent shooting leads the Peach Belt and ranks No. 10 nationally, while it also limits fouling, averaging a league-best 13.9 personals per game.
 
Champion ranks fourth in Division II in double-doubles (15), tenth in rebounds per game and 25^th in points per game, while his field goal percentage is 21^st nationally. Freshman guard AJ White comes off the bench to average 14.3 points per game.
 
NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Schedule
 
Quarterfinals (Saturday, March 11)
Game 1: No. 3 Lincoln Memorial def. No. 6 Lander, 76-63
Game 2: No. 7 North Georgia def. No. 2 UNC Pembroke, 76-58
Game 3: No. 1 Augusta def. No. 8 Emmanuel, 83-74
Game 4: No. 4 USC Aiken def. No. 5 Catawba, 88-79
 
Semifinals (Sunday, March 12)
Game 5: No. 3 Lincoln Memorial vs No. 7 North Georgia (5 p.m.)
Game 6: No. 1 Augusta vs No. 4 USC Aiken (7:30 p.m.)
 
Final (Tuesday, March 14)
Game 7: Winner Game 5 vs Winner Game 6 (7 p.m.)
 
Up Next
The winner of this game will face either No. 1 Augusta or No. 4 USC Aiken on Tuesday in the Southeast Regional Championship Game at 7 p.m.