After protecting their poll position on the road, the No. 1-ranked Shorter University men return home on Monday for a SSAC East Division matchup with Truett-McConnell College at 8 p.m. at the Winthrop-King Centre.

The undefeated Hawks (21-0, 11-0 SSAC) are fresh off an 80-77 overtime victory on the road against No. 17-ranked Lee University on Saturday night.

The win kept Shorter in first place in the East Division standings — and as the only unbeaten team in NAIA.

Shorter got a game-high 21 points from Walter Hill while Dante Harvey added 14 points and Anthony Banks and C.J. Davis chipped in with 13 points apiece.

Monday's game is Shorter’s third in six days and is the first game of three for the Hawks this week.

Shorter travels to Point University on Thursday before hitting the road for Central, S.C., and a date with Southern Wesleyan on Saturday afternoon.

Shorter’s grueling schedule means that the Hawks will have to be as focused as ever in the next few days.

That will be especially true if they hope to continue their program record winning streakagainst the Bears (9-12, 4-7).

While Shorter has all but secured itself a berth in the SSAC Tournament, Truett-McConnell is fighting to stay in the hunt for the fifth and final tourney slot out of the East Division.

The Bears have the weapons to threaten Shorter’s unbeaten record, most notably guard Roderick Bombard.

Bombard is the SSAC’s leading scorer at 19.7 points a game and scored 21 or more points eight times.

Bombard, a native of Orlando, Fla., has already proven himself against the Hawks — Bombard torched Shorter for 32 points and six 3-pointers in Truett-McConnell’s upset of Shorter in Cleveland, Ga., last season.

Bombard isn’t Truett-McConnell’s only premier player. Guard Bernard Niugent averages 16.7 points and 5.6 assists a game and leads the SSAC in steals at 4.4 per game. 6-4 forward Anthoney Dorsey is a load inside and is putting up 15.9 points and 4.8 rebounds a night.