by By Dan Carr, Assistant AD for Media Relations
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Lincoln men’s basketball team had its best shooting night of the season as the Blue Tigers beat Missouri Western, 89-66, on Saturday (Dec. 7) for their first MIAA win of 2019-20.
Lincoln (3-5, 1-1 MIAA) shot .559 from the floor and .519 from three-point range as the Blue Tigers led for nearly the entire game. Six LU players scored in double figures, led by Bansi King (Oneida) with 15 points. Cameron Potts added 14 points, seven assists, five rebounds and two steals to the winning effort.
Missouri Western (4-6, 1-1 MIAA) hit a layup at the end of the first half to make it a 44-37 affair at the break, and later pulled within two with 16:48 to play. Marcel Burton, who finished with 10 points, four boards and four assists, hit a trey to put Lincoln back up by five, and a few plays later Jordan Notch made the score 57-52 with a layup. Notch ended the day with 11 points and three rebounds.
Potts, King and Jonell Burton each made buckets to bring the lead back up to 11, and a trey from Marcel Burton followed by another basket by Notch put the Blue Tigers ahead, 68-52. MWSU would get no closer than within 14, as Lincoln finished the game by out-scoring the Griffons 21-14.
Jonell Burton secured a team-high seven rebounds and scored 10 points to go with five blocks, three assists and two steals. Lamont Ballard, Jr. also finished in double figures, scoring 12 points, and DJ Ward came off the bench to supply five points. Marcus Cohen, meanwhile, contributed five points and five assists.
L’Kielynn Taylor had four points and six rebounds, and Alafia Oluwasogo rounded out the scoring with three points and two boards. Zack Fields had an assist while Joe Davis and DaMani Jarrett also represented LU on the court.
Lincoln will next play in the QU Subway Classic next weekend, taking on McKendree on Saturday (Dec. 14) at 1:00 p.m. CST and the host team, Quincy, on Sunday (Dec. 15) at 3:15 p.m. CST. Both games will be played in Quincy, Ill.
