It wasn't the senior day Lincoln coach John Moseley had envisioned.
With a class of six seniors, including two 1,000-point scorers, the Lincoln Blue Tigers were hoping for a proper send-off Saturday, rather than a 76-67 loss to the Lindenwood Lions at Jason Gym.
"You're not going to beat many teams when you allow a team to shoot 51 percent and you turn the ball over 19 times," Moseley said. "That's a recipe for disaster."
Now as the Blue Tigers embark on a four-game road trip to conclude the regular season, Moseley wants his team to climb higher in the conference standings and give the seniors one more chance for a home game by hosting a first-round game in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Tournament.
The first five minutes of Saturday's game couldn't have gone any better for Lincoln.
The Blue Tigers knocked down eight of their first 10 shots to build a 19-9 lead. Richie Lewis opened the game with a deep 3-pointer and then Jaylon Smith followed with a breakaway dunk off a steal in the opening 40 seconds.
It would have been a tall task for Lincoln to continue that pace for the next 35 minutes. But it wasn't the offense that began to tail off.
"What failed us was our defense," Moseley said.
During a brief shooting cold spell, Lincoln surrendered its lead with 8:29 to go in the first half, then took it right back with a long jumper by O'Shai Clark. The Blue Tigers trailed for just 17 seconds in the first half and led 41-37 at halftime.
Lindenwood took the lead for good with three straight 3-point shots, making the score 56-52 with 13:39 to play. The Lions were mastering the art of scoring basket after basket as the shot clock expired, utilizing all 30 seconds of each possession.
"In the first five minutes of the second half, there were six possessions where our lead was less than four, and three times they were taking the ball out of bounds with four seconds on the shot clock. We gave up wide-open looks at that point," Moseley said.
Lincoln's 19 turnovers led to 29 points for Lindenwood.
Anthony Virdure brought the Blue Tigers within two points of the lead with an old-fashioned 3-point play with 7:37 to play. Lindenwood answered with a minute-long possession that was extended with an offensive rebound and concluded, fittingly, with a basket by Bakari Triggs as the shot clock expired.
Before long, Lindenwood's lead was back to nine points at 69-60 with 4:24 to play.
Dominique Dobbs led Lindenwood (18-10, 7-8 MIAA) with 16 points. LJ McIntosh, Chandler Diekvoss and Triggs each added 14 points.
Virdure had a game-high 22 points for Lincoln and Jaylon Smith added 13 points.
Lewis finished with 13 points, shooting 3-of-5 from 3-point range, and Clark had nine points, scoring seven in the first half.
"They've been two quiet contributors for two years, and they're two glue guys," Moseley said of Clark and Lewis, both seniors. "They don't always get the attention that they deserve, but they've been our heart and soul defensively."
It will be a quick and familiar bounce-back for the Blue Tigers. Lincoln (14-10, 7-8 MIAA) will begin its road trip Tuesday with a visit to St. Charles, to play Lindenwood again. Moseley said the back-to-back games against the same opponent will be "new territory" for his team.
"The issue that we've got to figure out over the next 72 hours is defensively, what do we do to guard them?" Moseley said. "They have guys we know that can shoot the ball, and yet they're getting open looks. There needs to be a sense of urgency to stop them."
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