MARYVILLE - The Lincoln men's basketball team finished the regular season Saturday with an 82-53 loss against the Northwest Missouri Bearcats, the No. 3 team in NCAA Division II.
Lincoln never had the lead in the game, as Northwest Missouri made 3-pointers on each of its first two possessions. The Bearcats led by as many as 31 points late in the second half.
The Blue Tigers fell behind 20-10 in the first eight minutes, but Lincoln trimmed the deficit to three points with a basket by Alexander Nailes with 8:52 left in the first half to make the score 22-19.
Northwest Missouri ended the first half on a 9-0 run to lead 41-27 at the break.
The Bearcats led by double digits the entire second half. Jaylon Smith scored a layup with 9:40 left to bring Lincoln within 15 points, but Northwest Missouri responded with nine straight points and led by at least 20 points the rest of the game.
Smith recorded his sixth double-double of the season, leading Lincoln with 27 points and 11 rebounds. He was the only player to reach double figures for the Blue Tigers, who played without leading scorer Anthony Virdure for the first time this season.
Richie Lewis and Deionte Wilson - who started in Virdure's place - each finished with eight points.
Lincoln (16-11) received the No. 9 seed in this week's Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Tournament, finishing conference play with a 9-10 record. The Blue Tigers will go on the road to play eighth-seeded Lindenwood (21-11, 10-9 MIAA) at 7 p.m. Monday.
III
The message was simple. The Lincoln women's basketball team needed to win Saturday to keep its season going.
The Blue Tigers were vying for the 12th and final spot in the MIAA Tournament, but Northwest Missouri took it instead with a 98-77 win against Lincoln.
Lincoln finishes the season with a 5-21 record. Both Lincoln and Northwest Missouri finished with a 4-15 record in MIAA play, but the Bearcats take the head-to-head tiebreaker by winning both regular-season matchups to receive the No. 12 seed in the conference tournament.
The score was tied at 23 after the first quarter, but Northwest Missouri won the scoring battle in each of the remaining three quarters. Tempary Gunter (Tuscumbia High School) made a layup midway through the second quarter to give Lincoln a 31-30 lead, but Northwest Missouri retook the lead on its next possession and never trailed again.
The Bearcats led 42-37 at halftime and 63-52 through three quarters before scoring 35 fourth-quarter points.
Hunter Yoakum scored a career-high 31 points in her final game with the Blue Tigers, shooting 10-of-15 from the field and knocking down five 3-pointers. Yoakum finishes second on Lincoln's all-time scoring list with 1,214 points, and leads the Blue Tigers in career games played (103), 3-pointers made (163) and 3-pointers attempted (537).
Yoakum also ended her Lincoln career second in free-throw percentage (.811) and third in field goals attempted (1,114).
Jordan Matthews came off the bench to score 15 points for the Blue Tigers and Erica Gibbons finished with 10 points.