GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Riding the wave of a four-game winning streak, the Tusculum University men's basketball team will face arguably its toughest week of the season with a pair games against nationally-ranked opponents in South Atlantic Conference action.

Tusculum, who is off to its first 4-0 SAC start ever, will travel to undefeated Queens University of Charlotte on Wednesday before returning home to host long-time in-state rival Lincoln Memorial University on Saturday at Pioneer Arena.

Queens was ranked fifth nationally in both the NABC and D2SIDA national polls last week while LMU was listed 22^nd (NABC) and 20^th (D2SIDA).

After starting the season 0-2, the Pioneers (4-2, 4-0 SAC) have rattled off four consecutive victories including Saturday's 80-76 win at UVA Wise. Tusculum trailed by 13 points in the first half and were behind 41-29 at halftime. The Pioneers posted 51 points in the second half while shooting a blistering 20-of-31 from the field 64.5 percent. TU's Trenton Gibson scored 17 points and converted a 3-point play with 2.8 seconds remaining to give the Pioneers a 2-point lead. Inady Legiste intercepted the in-bounds pass and was fouled with 1.9 seconds remaining. His two free throws would seal the four-point victory.

TU's William Vedder posted his second double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while James West IV contributed 10 markers in the win for the Pioneers.

SCOUTING THE PIONEERS

During its 0-2 start, Tusculum was without the services of 2021 SAC Player of the Year Trenton Gibson, who was sidelined for the later part of the preseason and the first weekend of the 2021-22 campaign due to injury. Gibson returned to the line-up in the conference opener against Carson-Newman and poured in 23 points off the bench and made some key free throws in the final moments in a 73-69 win.

Since his return to the line-up, the Pioneers are undefeated while the graduate student from Murfreesboro, Tennessee is averaging 19.8 points per game (3^rd in SAC) and is posting 6.0 rebounds (14^th in SAC) and 3.0 assists per contest (13^th in SAC). He is shooting 87 percent from the free throw line

He enters this week's action with 1,269 career points which are the 17^th-most in program history and needs five more to surpass former All-SAC center Chase Mounce (1,273 from 2013-2017) for the No. 16 position on the TU scoring list. He also needs just three made field goals and nine made free throws to eclipse 400 in each category. He is already the only player in the 110-year history of the program with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds (540), 300 assists (340) and 100 steals (102) in a career.

Vedder, a graduate student from Washington, D.C., has emerged as presence in the post for the Pioneers. The Virginia State University transfer is second on the team in scoring with 14.8 points per game (16^th in SAC) and second on the roster in rebounding, grabbing 6.2 boards per outing (T12th in SAC). Vedder was a member of three CIAA Divisional championship teams, while advancing to the NCAA II Tournament each year. Vedder is shooting 60.7 percent from the field (T5th in SAC) including 42.9 percent from three-point territory.

Sophomore forward Inady Legiste (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) has been providing some solid minutes off the bench of late. He is averaging 9.7 points per game including 14.7 ppg in his last three contests. He posted a career-high 21 points in last Tuesday's home win over Limestone. The 2021 SAC All-Freshman team selection also posted nine points and a career-best four blocked shots in Saturday's outing at UVA Wise. Legiste leads the Pioneers with his 1.8 blocked shots per game which are second in the conference.

Senior guard James West IV (Woodbridge, Va.) is contributing 9.2 points per game including 12.5 ppg in his last two games. He notched a season-best 15 markers against Limestone last week and has been aiding the defensive efforts with five blocked shots and six steals in his last four games. The 2021 All-SAC standout is shooting 36.4 percent from three-point territory and is averaging 2.0 treys per game (T18th in SAC). He has already made 50 three-pointers in his 19-game career at Tusculum (2.63 avg.).

Junior Justin Mitchell (Lexington, Ky.) is the only Pioneer to start in every game this season and is averaging 8.5 points and a team-best 6.3 rebounds per game (11^th in SAC). He tallied nine points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals in Saturday's game at UVA Wise.

True freshman guard KJ Crump is averaging 8.0 points and 1.8 assists per game and has made three starts at the point guard spot for the Pioneers. The 5-7 Clarksville, Tennessee product is shooting 42.9 percent from the floor including 50 percent from three-point land.

Graduate student Brandon Mitchell (Virginia Beach, Va.) has posted 6.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per contest. He hauled in 24 rebounds this year have moved him in to seventh place on Tusculum's all-time rebounds list (640). His 174 career blocked shots are a Tusculum record and needs three more rejections to move into the SAC top-10. His career block total is the most by an active DII player.

The Pioneers have also been getting quality minutes from junior transfers Jalen Crowder (4.3 ppg, 1.5 rpg) and Jacob Hobbs (2.2 ppg, 2.5 rpg). Hobbs (Elizabethtown, Ky.) joined the Pioneers from Division I Lipscomb University while Crowder (Asheville, N.C.) played previously at Caldwell Tech.

SERIES HISTORY

Wednesday will be the 20th meeting between Tusculum and Queens. The Royals have dominated the series owning a 17-2 advantage, but the Pioneers ended a six-game slide to Queens with their 67-61 win in their last December trip to Charlotte. TU's other win in the series came on Feb. 27, 2016, a 96-89 double overtime win at Pioneer Arena.

Saturday will be the 185th recorded meeting between Tusculum and Lincoln Memorial in the longest running rivalry in Pioneer history. LMU leads the all-time series 139-45 and have won 29 of the last 31 meetings. In those 31 games, LMU has been nationally ranked in 27 of them. TU handed the No. 8 Railsplitters a 90-74 loss in February in LMU's last trip to Greeneville. Lincoln Memorial won the seasonal rubber-match 80-66 in the NCAA II Southeast Regional Semifinal last March.

SCOUTING QUEENS

The Queens Royals are off to a perfect 6-0 start and have emerged as one of the top offensive teams in the country averaging 92 points per contest (1^st in SAC / 9^th in NCAA II).

Head coach Bart Lundy has the Royals firing on all cylinders as QUC leads the SAC in rebound margin (5.8), turnover margin (8.2 – 8^th in NCAA II), scoring margin (+16.0 – 37^th in NCAA II), steals (9.2 spg – 46^th in NCAA II) and assist to turnover ratio (1.83 – 8^th in NCAA II).

Queens opened the season with a 133-80 dismantling of Young Harris and followed with a convincing 83-62 victory over 2021 NCAA participant Emmanuel. Their conference wins include: Catawba (82-71), Carson-Newman (83-81) and Anderson (86-79). The Royals had the SAC bye on Saturday and hosted crosstown foe Johnson C. Smith and Queens came away with an 85-83 win over the Bulls.

The Royals have a balanced scoring attack with six players averaging 9.5 points or better including four individuals in double figures. Forward Jamari Smith leads the team averaging 15.5 points per game (13^th in SAC) while hauling in 6.0 rebounds per outing. The two-time All-SAC choice is coming off a season-high 19-point effort on Saturday.

All-SAC guard Kenny Dye is second on the team with 12.5 points per game and leads the SAC in assists with his 6.3 helpers per night (12^th in NCAA II). The 2021 NABC All-District first team honoree is averaging 17 ppg in his last two contests including last Tuesday's season-best 19-point effort at Anderson.

Sophomore Jay'Den Turner is contributing 12.3 points per game, while Charlotte, North Carolina guard AJ McKee is averaging 10.7 points per outing.

SCOUTING LINCOLN MEMORIAL

A new chapter was unveiled last March with the hire of Jeremiah Samarrippas as head coach of the Lincoln Memorial basketball program. Samarripappas, who has been affiliated with the LMU program since 2014, replaced long-time head coach Josh Schertz after a successful 13-year run with the Railsplitters. While on Schertz's staff, LMU posted an impressive 197-28 record with three trips to the DII Final Four including last year.

Coach Samarripappas has LMU off to another sizzling start with a 5-1 overall record including 3-1 in SAC play entering this week. Prior to coming to Tusculum, the Railsplitters will host Erskine College on Wednesday in a non-conference meeting.

LMU knocked off a pair of teams Tusculum lost to in last month's Peach Belt / SAC Challenge with victories over Clayton State (89-71) and USC Aiken (84-82). They followed with a 91-73 win over Anderson before stumbling with a 75-71 road loss at Wingate. LMU has bounced back with SAC wins over Catawba (93-77) and Coker (98-81).

LMU is averaging 87.7 points per game and is shooting nearly 50 percent as a team (49.7%). LMU is tallying 12.7 three-pointers per contest. One item which sticks out for LMU is only nine players have seen action this season with the starting five of Jordan Guest (31.2), Alex Dahling (33.3), Matthew Sells (30.7), Chase Rankin (35.8) and Jordan Walters (30.0) all averaging over 30 minutes per game.

Guest, the reigning SAC Player of the Week, leads the team with 19.2 points per game (5^th in SAC) and a conference-best 10.0 rebounds per contest. The 2021 NCAA Regional Most Outstanding Player averaged 25.5 points per game last week including 28 points in Saturday's win over Coker.

Sells is averaging 15.7 points per game including 23 markers on Saturday and 19 points in the SAC opening win over Anderson. Dahling is averaging 16.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per contest, while Rankin is posting 12.3 points and 6.3 assists per outing.

TICKETS

Tickets for 2021-22 Tusculum home basketball games are $10 for all entrants and children 12 and under will be admitted free. Tusculum students will be admitted free with a valid Tusculum ID.

FOLLOW THE PIONEERS

Fans can watch the action of Tusculum men's basketball all season at www.TusculumPioneers.com on the Pioneer Sports Network and the SAC Digital Network. The radio call of the games will also be available locally on WSMG Radio on 95.5 FM and 1450 AM, as well as online at https://jewel955.com/listenlive.