Lincoln women earn basketball playoff berth

LU men fall victim to Lindenwood

It was a day to celebrate for the Lincoln women's basketball team.

Not only were the Blue Tigers celebrating Senior Day with their afternoon game at Jason Gym against Lindenwood, but they got an even bigger reason to be happy.

Thanks to a 69-49 win against the Lions, the Blue Tigers wrapped up a spot in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Tournament.

It will be Lincoln's third postseason appearance during the past three seasons. The Blue Tigers reached the MIAA Tournament semifinals in 2012 and were eliminated in the first round in 2014.

With one conference game remaining for some teams and two for others, the first-round opponent has yet to be determined for the Blue Tigers. However, they are assured of playing on the road since they currently hold down the 10th of 14 playoff spots.

Kate Frazier, the lone senior for Lincoln, was one of four Blue Tigers to reach double figures in scoring during the victory. Kayton Cole led the way with a game-high 18 points, Frazier and Dorian Briggs added 13 each and Kelsey Williams chipped in with 11.

Lizzie Nessling pulled down a team-high seven rebounds for Lincoln and Williams dished out a game-high six assists.

Jenny Rocha led Lindenwood with 17 points. Bre Zanders, a former Helias Lady Crusader, had six rebounds for the Lions.

Lincoln jumped out to a 33-18 lead at halftime and put the game away by outscoring Lindenwood 36-31 after the break.

With the win, Lincoln moved to 12-12 overall and 7-11 in the MIAA. Lindenwood dropped to 11-14 and 4-14.

The Blue Tigers will close out the regular season Saturday when they travel to Missouri Southern.

III

In men's action Saturday, Lincoln held a lead with 8:39 remaining, but fell victim to a 14-0 Lindenwood run and lost 77-67.

After the game was tied at 48, the Blue Tigers got back-to-back scores on a jumper by Jeremy Jackson and a layup by Malcolm McDonald to take a four-point edge.

That's when the Lions started their comeback, as Darris Smith drilled a 3-pointer to get things rolling. They closed it with a layup by Cory Arentsen and never led by less than seven the rest of the game.

Smith led four Lindenwood players in double figures with 19 points.

Blake Ralling and Joshua Buie, two of three seniors honored on Senior Day, led Lincoln in scoring. Ralling dropped in a game-high 21 points while Buie added 16. Jeremy Jackson also scored 16 for the Blue Tigers. Greg Motley was the only senior honored on the day.

The teams shot similar percentages, with Lincoln making 24-of-51 from the field (47 percent) and Lindenwood connectiong on 22-of-49 (45 percent). But the Lions made a whopping 27-of-31 free throws (87 percent), compared to just 11-of-15 (73 percent) for the Blue Tigers.

Lindenwood moved to 17-10 overall and 12-6 in the MIAA, while Lincoln fell to 4-23 and 1-17.