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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The second-ranked Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team (26-1, 18-1 SAC) will meet top-ranked Lincoln Memorial University (26-1, 19-0 SAC) in Saturday's regular season finale, with the South Atlantic Conference regular season championship on the line. Opening tipoff from Tex Turner Arena in Harrogate, Tennessee, is scheduled for 4 p.m.

With a win, Queens will earn the regular-season co-championship for the second consecutive year, after splitting the title with Lincoln Memorial last season. LMU has already clinched a share of the conference crown with its 89-77 win over Carson-Newman University on Wednesday night.

The game also holds NCAA Tournament implications, as Lincoln Memorial, with an in-region record of 23-1, enters the season's final week as the top-ranked team in the Southeast. Queens is currently ranked No. 2 in the region, with an in-region record of 24-1. The top-seeded team in the region will earn the right to host the first three rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Queens hosted the regional last season after defeating LMU in the conference tournament championship game. Lincoln Memorial hosted the regional in each of the two seasons prior (2015 and 2016).

The game also feature's the top two teams in the national rankings, as Lincoln Memorial and Queens came in at No.1 and No. 2, respectively, in the NABC/Division II National Rankings on Tuesday, for the fourth consecutive week. This marks the 15^th all-time meeting between No. 1 and No. 2 in the nation, in either of the two polls.

In the season's first meeting, on Jan. 13, then-No. 1 Queens squandered a 14-point first-half lead and fell to then-No. 5 Lincoln Memorial, 73-72, in front of a crowd of nearly 1,400 fans at the Levine Center. The loss put an end to a 16-game winning streak that tied program records for both winning streak, and best start to a season, and is the Royals only loss of the 2017-2018 campaign.

The Railsplitters lead the all-time series 13-3, although the series has tightened over the last two seasons. Since the start of the 2016-2017 campaign, four of the five meetings have been decided by one possession, with LMU winning three times and Queens winning two.

A win would also help the 2017-2018 Royals achieve program history, as the first team to complete the regular season with just one loss. The team has already clinched the best record in program history with its most recent victory. The previous best mark was set by the 2002-2003 team that finished with a 29-4 overall record, and a 26-2 record in the regular season (.923 win pct.).

Live play-by-play coverage will be available on the Queens Sports Network with Phil Constantino.

Live video will be available on the WatchESPN App with Leah Secondo and Robin Muller.
 
Quick Facts

No. 2/3 Queens Royals (26-1, 18-1 SAC)
(Game Notes)

-Queens most recently defeated Lenoir-Rhyne University on Wednesday night, 75-55, to earn its 10th consecutive win. Todd Withers led four Royals in double figures with 16 points and nine rebounds, falling one board shy of earning his 15^th career double-double and eighth of this season. Mike Davis scored 11 points, while Ike Agusi and Lewis Diankulu each scored 10. Queens spread the ball around compiling 25 assists on 30 made field goals.

-The Royals have found a new offensive stride during the winning streak, averaging 88.5 points per game in the last 10 contests. Queens averaged 74.3 points per game in its previous three outings (Jan. 6-Jan. 13), a stretch which included the season's only loss. On the season the Royals average 84.8 points per game.

-The Royals are also moving the ball more efficiently during the winning streak. Queens is averaging 20.5 team assists per game in the last 10 contests, after previously averaging 15 per game from Jan. 6-Jan. 13. Queens has set a new season-high for assists in a game in two of its last five outings (26, Feb. 7 at Wingate; 27 Feb. 14 versus Newberry), and has totaled more than 20 assists in each of the last five games, and six of the last seven.

-Since losing on Jan. 13, Queens has not shot less than 47.6 percent from the floor in a game and is shooting 52.1 percent in that span (322-618), including a season-best 61-percent performance versus Coker College on Jan. 31 (36-59). From Jan. 6-Jan.13, Queens shot 47.7 percent, which included a season-worst offensive performance of 39.4 percent (26-66) versus Lincoln Memorial University on Jan. 13, the only time the Royals were held to less than 40 percent from the floor all year. On the season Queens is shooting 50.7 percent from the floor which ranks No. 6 nationally.

-The Royals are ranked No. 2 in the SAC, and No. 37 in Division II, in scoring defense, allowing 68.6 points per game. Queens has held 22 of its 27 opponents under their season scoring average.

-Queens has held its opponent to 70 points or less 15 times in 27 games, and 60 points or less six times, including keeping LR to 55 points on Wednesday night. Only three opponents all season have scored more than 80 points in a game against Queens (Carson-Newman, Catawba, and Newberry).

-The Royals are holding opponents to 41.0-percent shooting (No. 17 NCAA, No. 2 SAC), and are out-rebounding opponents by 8.6 rebounds per game (No. 12 NCAA, No. 2 SAC).

-Queens is led by Withers who is averaging a team-high 14.0 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game. Withers is 17^th in the SAC in scoring, third in rebounding, and fifth in blocked shots.

-On Feb. 15, Withers was named to the Bevo Francis Award Top 50 Watch List. The Bevo Francis Award is presented annually to the player who had the finest overall season in Small College Basketball (NCAA Divisions II and III, NAIA, USCAA, and NCCAA).

-With nine rebounds versus Lenoir-Rhyne, Withers moved into fourth all-time at Queens in career rebounds with 701, passing DeWayne Ansley, who secured 700 rebounds in his career from 1991-1993 and 1994-1996. Withers is currently 60 rebounds away from tying for third all-time (Carlos Andrade, 761, 1999-2003).

-With 16 points versus Lenoir-Rhyne, Withers moved into 10th all-time at Queens in career scoring with 1,244 points. He is 22 points away from tying for ninth on the scoring list (1,266, DeWayne Ansley).

-With 19 points versus Mars Hill on Jan. 17, Davis reached the 1,600-point mark for his career. He has currently scored 1,621 career points, the first 811 came in his first two collegiate seasons at Francis Marion University, with the following 810 coming since transferring to Queens prior to his junior year.

-As one of the most efficient offensive teams in the country, Queens features two of the league's top five in shooting percentage. Lewis Diankulu ranks fourth at 68,2-percent shooting, and Shaun Willett ranks fifth at 61.5 percent.

-The Royals feature a balanced attack with four of five starters averaging double figures (Withers 14.0 PPG, Davis 13.1 PPG, Agusi 11.4 PPG, and Alexander 11.3 PPG). Queens has featured seven different leading scorers in a game this season (Withers, Davis, Alexander, Diankulu, Agusi, Willett, Josh Van Weezep).

-On Jan. 9, Queens reached No. 1 in the NABC/Division II National Rankings for the first time in program history and received 13 of a possible 16 first-place votes. Queens is currently ranked No. 2 in the coaches' poll and No. 3 in the D2SIDA media poll for the fourth consecutive week.

-With LMU No. 1, and Queens No. 2, two teams from the same conference make up the top-two teams in the coaches' poll for the first time since Feb. 23, 2016, when Wheeling Jesuit University and West Liberty University out of the Mountain East Conference ranked No. 1 and 2 respectively.

-Queens was the first ever Charlotte-area men's college basketball program to receive a No. 1 national ranking in its classification.

-Queens is ranked in the coaches' poll for the 43rd consecutive week, a streak which began on Nov. 24, 2015, with the first poll of the 2015-2016 season. Queens has cracked the top 10 of the rankings during each of the previous two seasons.

-With a win over Anderson University on Jan. 27, Queens won its 20^th game of the season, giving the Royals a 20 win campaign for the third consecutive year, and the 14^th time in the program's 30-year history. For Bart Lundy, 2017-2018 is his seventh 20-win season as a collegiate head coach in 16 years, and his sixth in 10 years at Queens.

-Over the last three seasons, Queens has opened a combined 44-0 before losing, opening the 2015-2016 season 12-0, and opening the 2016-2017 season 16-0, prior to this season's 16-0 start.

-Queens is the only program in the nation, in all levels of NCAA competition, to have started each of the last three seasons 10-0 or better (More than 1,200 schools).

-With a victory over Tarleton State University on Dec. 30, Queens completed its non-conference schedule unbeaten for the third consecutive season. The Royals last non-conference loss came versus Livingstone, 73-71, on Dec. 3, 2014. Queens has won 24 straight non-conference games including the postseason.
 
No. 1/1 Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters (26-1, 19-0 SAC)

-Lincoln Memorial most recently defeated regionally-ranked Carson-Newman, 89-77, on Wednesday, to clinch at least a share of the SAC regular-season title. The Railsplitters have now won the regular season and/or postseason championship in six straight seasons.

-With a win on Saturday, Lincoln Memorial would complete the conference schedule 20-0 and would become just the second team all-time to finish the SAC slate with an unblemished mark on either the men's or women's side. LMU's team in 2015-2016, that reached the National Championship Game, is the only other team to do so, going 22-0.

The last loss came at Queens on Jan. 9, 2017, 103-101 in overtime. This streak does not include a postseason loss to the Royals on Mar. 5, 2017, 75-72, in the South Atlantic Conference Tournament Championship Game.

-LMU's only loss of the season came on Dec. 19 versus reigning National Champion and then-No. 1 ranked Northwest Missouri State University, 70-56, in a neutral site game. Lincoln Memorial has since rattled off 15 consecutive wins.

-LMU features the nation's best field goal percentage (54.9%), second best 3-point shooting percentage (42.9%), and the second-best scoring offense (96.8 PPG). On the defensive end, the Splitters also feature the country's best field goal percentage defense (36.4%), and the league's best scoring defense (68.5 PPG).

-LMU is led by Trevon Shaw, who is fourth in the league in scoring (18.3 PPG) and second in the league in 3-point percentage (48.4%). Emanuel Terry is fifth in the league in scoring (17.8 PPG), No. 1 in the league and No. 17 in the nation in rebounding (10.5 RPG), and first in the league and second in the country in field goal percentage (72%). Dorian Pinson is 14^th in the SAC in scoring (14.6 PPG) and No. 2 in rebounding (9.2 RPG).

-Shaw, Terry, and Pinson were each named to the Bevo Francis Award Top-50 Watch List. Lincoln Memorial is the only program with three players still in contention for the award.