The Lincoln Blue Tigers were catching plenty of breaks down the stretch Saturday, and they needed just one more to fall their way.
With 4.9 seconds remaining, Anthony Virdure took the in-bounds pass and went straight to the basket. Lincoln's leading scorer put up a shot through four Truman State defenders with one second left, but the ball missed the rim. The Blue Tigers, who nearly erased a 13-point deficit, dropped their home opener to the Bulldogs 72-71 at Jason Gym.
"The plan was to get Anthony the ball," Lincoln coach Josh Moseley said of the final play of the game. "He made a lot of plays for us tonight. He's not afraid of that moment.
"He's disappointed right now that he wasn't able to finish for his team, but if we went back out there right now and got to do it again, I would do something very similar. The ball would be in his hands, maybe in a different location."
Lincoln trailed 70-57 - its biggest deficit of the game - with 4:45 to play. Needing a spark, Lincoln turned to Jaylon Smith, who took a shot from 26 feet away and drained a deep 3-pointer to start the Blue Tigers' comeback.
Smith's long-range shot was one of many breaks that went Lincoln's way in the final five minutes to orchestrate a comeback.
"When the guys see the ball go through the net, they have a little bit more energy on the defensive end," Moseley said. "We were able to get some hands on balls, create a couple of turnovers and get easy baskets in transition."
Virdure, who scored a game-high 28 points for the Blue Tigers, made a layup and drew a foul with 3:10 to play. The Lincoln senior added the free throw to cut Truman State's lead to 70-65.
The Blue Tigers then used a full-court press that resulted in a 10-second violation against the Bulldogs. The turnover led to another basket in the lane by Virdure, cutting Truman State's lead to three points.
Lincoln forced 20 turnovers and tallied 13 steals, led by Richie Lewis with five.
"These guys are going to show heart, that's who they are," Moseley said. "I was really proud of how they stayed together."
On two occasions, Lincoln trimmed its deficit to one point in the final 2:30 of the game. O'Shai Clark grabbed a steal and cruised in for a layup at the 2:19 mark. The Blue Tigers took advantage of another turnover that led to a basket by Virdure with 29.7 seconds left, cutting the Truman State lead to 72-71.
Forced to foul, the Blue Tigers put Cory Myers on the line with 14.6 seconds on the clock. Myers missed the front end of a one-and-one, giving Lincoln the chance to hold the ball for the final shot.
Truman State nearly forced a turnover on the last possession, but after officials went to the replay monitor with 4.9 seconds left, they ruled the ball was last touched by the Bulldogs before going out of bounds, giving the Blue Tigers another chance to win.
Lincoln had its chances, holding Truman State without a field goal for the last 4:45 of the game. The Blue Tigers forced five turnovers during that stretch and the Bulldogs only managed three shots, missing them all.
"We just dug ourselves a little bit too much of a hole to get out of tonight," Moseley said.
Truman State never trailed after scoring on the opening possession of the second half. Lincoln's 38-37 halftime lead was the only time it had the lead after the first 10 minutes of the game.
Free throws plagued Lincoln in the second half. After making their first 10 attempts from the line, the Blue Tigers missed six of their next seven tries. Lincoln finished 16-of-24 at the line.
"When you lose a 1-point basketball game, you can look back at a lot of possessions throughout," Moseley said. "Many people will walk away remembering the last shot that didn't go in but at the free-throw line in the second half, we missed a lot of them.
"You have to play better if you want to beat really good teams."
Smith, who was a perfect 6-of-6 at the free-throw line, posted his third double-double of the season with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Lewis also had nine points and Clark and Maurice Mason added six points each for the Blue Tigers.
Jake Velky led Truman State with 26 points, making 6-of-7 shots from 3-point range. The Bulldogs shot 50 percent beyond the arc and 47.3 percent from the field for the game.
"The 3-ball is a neutralizer for a team," Moseley said. "To have a guy that is that deadly from three is a luxury. He got some of his threes on defensive mistakes off the ball. He doesn't need much space to get (the shot) off."
Dwight Sistrunk Jr. also scored 10 points for Truman State (5-1) and dished out seven assists before fouling out late in the game.
Lincoln (4-2) will host Robert Morris-Springfield at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The Blue Tigers will play three of their next four games at Jason Gym.
GAME VIDEO