JEFFERSON CITY, MO. – Although the game was listed as an exhibition contest on the schedule, the game was anything but between the Lincoln University men’s basketball team and Langston Saturday night.
It came down to the final shot, as the Lions couldn’t get a shot off with under a second to play, giving the Blue Tigers the roller-coaster, energy charged 74-72 victory in front of a packed Jason Gym crowd.
Long-time rivals, the two teams traded shots throughout the contest, as Lincoln began to pull away a little in the first half following a Davey Fall jumper, the Blue Tigers expanded the lead to six just seven minutes into the game.
The strong play would continue for Lincoln, as Anthony Welch and Eric Jones tallied a couple of quick buckets to expand the lead to 10 midway through the first half. Langston refused to go away, as the Lions broke out a 9-2 run over the next two minutes to quickly slice the lead down to three after Catrell Curry muscled inside the paint for a layup.
The Blue Tigers closed the first half strong, thanks to a Welch jumper to help stop a Lions’ run and give the Blue Tigers an eight point lead at halftime, 48-40.
The second half looked as if it would belong to the Blue Tigers, as a Darrius Gaters jumper with 9:38 left to play in the game gave Lincoln their largest lead of the night at 13 points, 67-54. The Lions continued to chip away at the lead, getting to within one-point following a big three-pointer by Curry with a little over three minutes left to play.
After the teams traded free throws, Jones nailed a jumper to put Lincoln back ahead by three, but Isaiah Johnson countered with a jumper of his own in traffic to cut the lead back down to one at 73-72 with 1:36 left to play. Each team then had heart-stopping possession, as Donald Brumfield missed on a jumper for the Blue Tigers, then the Lions hurried their shot, as Eric Harris missed a top of the key three to keep it at a one point spread for the Blue Tigers with under a minute to play.
Lincoln ran the clock down on their next possession before turning the ball over and in transition, Alvin Lewis missed a jumper in the paint for the Lions leaving just four seconds on the clock.
The Lions then fouled Brumfield, who split a pair of free throws leaving it a two-point game with two seconds left. Langston hustled to the other end of the floor and called a time out with five-tenths of a second left on the clock. The Lions inbounded, but couldn’t get a shot off near midcourt, ending the game giving Lincoln the tight two-point victory.
Gaters led the way for Lincoln, scoring 16 points, while adding seven rebounds and one steal in 28 minutes. Brumfield was right behind Gaters, posting 14 points, in addition to his seven rebounds and two assists.
Lewis led the way for the Lions, leading all scorers with 19 points, while dishing out two assists. Curry added 17 points, five rebounds and three assists.
The Blue Tigers will open the regular season this Tuesday, November 17 on the road at the University of Missouri-Kansas City with tipoff set for 7 p.m.
Langston vs Lincoln (MO)
11/14/09 3:00 p.m. at Jason Gym, Jefferson City, MO
At Jason Gym, Jefferson City, MO
LINCOLN (MO) 74, LANGSTON 72
LANGSTON
Lewis, Alvin 4-16 8-8 19; Curry, Catrell 5-12 4-4 17; Harris, Eric 3-8 5-10
11; Tyler, Chris 4-9 0-0 8; Higgins, Chris 3-7 0-0 7; Somoye, Babs 2-3 1-2
5; Johnson, Isaiah 2-6 0-2 4; Coursey, Shelby 0-0 1-2 1; Mobley, John 0-0
0-0 0. Totals 23-61 19-28 72.
LINCOLN (MO)
Gaters, Darrius 7-11 2-3 16; Brumfield, Donald 4-9 6-8 14; Jones, Eric 5-8
2-2 12; Welch, Anthony 4-13 0-0 10; Spearman, Ryan 2-10 2-2 8; Booker,
Lionel 2-5 2-2 7; King, Jay 1-1 1-2 3; Dorton, Michael 1-3 0-0 2; Fall,
Davey 1-2 0-0 2; Felipe, Miguel 0-0 0-0 0; Crigler, Marcus 0-1 0-0 0. Totals
27-63 15-19 74.
Langston...................... 40 32 - 72
Lincoln (MO).................. 48 26 - 74
3-point goals--Langston 7-27 (Curry, Catrell 3-9; Lewis, Alvin 3-10;
Higgins, Chris 1-4; Tyler, Chris 0-1; Harris, Eric 0-3), Lincoln (MO) 5-17
(Spearman, Ryan 2-8; Welch, Anthony 2-7; Booker, Lionel 1-2). Fouled
out--Langston-None, Lincoln (MO)-None. Rebounds--Langston 30 (Tyler, Chris
10), Lincoln (MO) 48 (Jones, Eric 10). Assists--Langston 9 (Curry, Catrell
3), Lincoln (MO) 15 (Spearman, Ryan 7). Total fouls--Langston 19, Lincoln
(MO) 22. Technical fouls--Langston-Harris, Eric, Lincoln (MO)-Jones, Eric;
Gaters, Darrius. A-1250