LMU Railsplitters Climb to No. 3 in this Week's National Polls
HARROGATE, Tenn. - After taking down the nation's top-ranked team on Saturday, the Lincoln Memorial University men's basketball team has moved up to No. 3 in both the NABC/Division II coaches and the D2SIDA top 25 polls that were released on Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 16. The Railsplitters (15-1), who received a first-place vote in the D2SIDA rankings, are the last remaining unbeaten team in South Atlantic Conference play with an unblemished 9-0 mark.
Lincoln Memorial earned the first win over the No. 1 ranked team in the country on Saturday, rallying from a 14-point first-half deficit to defeat the previously unbeaten Queens Royals 73-72 in Charlotte, N.C. That game was a rematch of last season's Sweet 16, which the Railsplitters won to advance to the national quarterfinals for the second consecutive season. The Railsplitters are currently riding a humble four-game winning streak since suffering their first loss of the season on December 19 to the defending national champions, Northwest Missouri State, who is ranked No. 2 in both of this week's poll. Lincoln Memorial has won 23 consecutive SAC games as well as 14 straight regular-season road games dating back to the 2016-17 campaign. In this week's NABC coaches poll, the Railsplitters are preceded by the new No. 1, West Liberty, and No. 2 Northwest Missouri State. Queens fell back to No. 4 and was followed by No. 5 Ferris State. The rest of the top 10 consisted of Bellarmine, West Texas A&M, Northern State, Western Oregon and Texas A&M Commerce. In the D2SIDA poll, which is voted on by a selection of Sports Information Directors across the country, Lincoln Memorial is ranked third behind No. 1 West Liberty and No. 2 Northwest Missouri State. Ferris State and Queens round out the top five, while Northern State, Bellarmine, West Texas A&M, Western Oregon and West Florida complete the top 10. Carson-Newman - LMU's opponent on Wednesday - moved up two spots to No. 18 in this week's media rankings. The Railsplitters will square off against Carson-Newman for the 205th time in program history on Wednesday night, Jan. 17 in Jefferson City, Tenn. The Eagles currently boast a 15-game home winning and are sitting in third place in the SAC standings at 15-2 overall.
The LMU/Carson-Newman contest (along with LMU women's game with CN) will be locally televised on Knoxville's MyVLT.
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