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HARROGATE, Tenn. — The Lincoln Memorial University men’s basketball team will begin the 2012-13 campaign by traveling to Tallahasshee, Fla., for an exhibition contest at defending ACC champion Florida State, Railsplitter head coach Josh Schertz and athletic director Roger Vannoy announced Tuesday morning.

LMU and Florida State are slated to kickoff the 2012-13 season on Oc. 30 at 7 p.m. in the Donald L. Tucker Center.

The Railsplitters will meet a Seminole team that returns 7 letter winners and one starter from the 2011-12 team which captured the Atlantic Coast Conference crown. Among that group, the Semioles will return four of their top five scorers and three of their top four rebounders. FSU finished the 2011-12 campaign with a 25-10 mark and ranked 10th nationally in the final AP poll.

“We are extremely excited and appreciative of the opportunity afforded to us by Florida State,” Schertz said. “They are the defending ACC champions, and have a team back that is capable of competing for a national title. It should be a tremendous experience for both our players and our fans, who I know will travel and join us in Tallahassee.”

Lincoln Memorial heads into this matchup with the Seminoles and the 2012-13 campaign fresh off the heels of a 2011-12 season that saw the Railsplitters ascend to the No.1 national ranking in Division II. LMU is the first men’s basketball program in South Atlantic Conference history to garner the No.1 ranking. The ‘Splitters also advanced in the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history. Overall, LMU finished with a 26-6 mark.

The Railsplitters return ten letter winners and eight of their top 11 scorers from a season ago. Included among that group, Vincent Bailey returns after leading the team in scoring at 10.9 points per contest on a .623 field goal percentage. He finished second on the team in rebounds with 6.3 per game. Bailey was named to the All-South Atlantic Conference second team at the conclusion of the 2011-12 regular season.

Jake Troyli returns to LMU after averaging 9.6 points per game on a .482 field goal percentage in his first season for the Railsplitters. Deep shooting threat Cam Carden will be competing in his final season for the Railsplitters, as he led the team in three point field goals last season, draining 63 total. He is the third-leading scoring returning from last year’s squad, as he notched 8.8 points per contest.

Lorenza Ross will also be returning for the Railsplitters following his selection to the All-SAC freshman team at the end of the 2011-12 regular season. Ross averaged 4.5 points per game, while handing out 19 assists overall.

The Railsplitters are in the midst of an unprecedented run as the program heads into the fifth year of the Josh Schertz era. In 2010-11, LMU set the standard for a single season in South Atlantic Conference basketball, as they notched the conference record for wins (27), consecutive wins (22), winning percentage (90.0) and conference wins (16). That season, the ‘Splitters finished 27-3 overall and captured the SAC regular season and tournament titles.

In Schertz’s four years, the Railsplitters have compiled an 87-32 record with a 54-7 mark inside Tex Turner Arena. Over the past two seasons, LMU has 53 wins to only nine losses, making two consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

Following the exhibition at Forida State, the Railsplitters open the regular season on Nov. 10th as they host Ohio Mid-Western at 8 p.m.