Missouri Western didn't look like the last-place team in the MIAA on Thursday night.
Lavon Hightower scored a season-high 30 points, leading the Griffons to an 82-73 win at Jason Gym against the Lincoln Blue Tigers.
"They were in a position where they must win, to try and stay alive," Lincoln coach John Moseley said. " Hightower played about as well against us as anybody had all year. He had a spectacular individual performance."
The loss to the last-place Griffons snapped a four-game win streak for Lincoln, which dropped to eighth place in the MIAA standings with one game to go. Missouri Western moves into a three-way tie for 12th place with Northeastern State and Emporia State for the final spot in next week's MIAA Tournament.
Lincoln led on three occasions, all in the first 11 minutes, but none of those leads lasted beyond the ensuing Missouri Western possession.
Amariontez Ivory's 3-pointer got Lincoln on the scoreboard nearly three minutes into the game. Hightower answered with a basket on the other end to give the Griffons a 4-3 lead.
Calvin Chambers scored a layup with 12:05 left in the opening half, finishing off a 6-0 run, but Bryan Hudson made two free throws the next time down the floor to put Missouri Western ahead 15-14.
Terrance Smith made his only 3 of the game at the 9:43 mark, but Wes Mitter answered with a 3 the next time down the court to put the Griffons ahead 21-20.
"We just did not play well enough defensively to take advantage of the opportunity that we had tonight," Moseley said.
The two teams traded 3s to end the first half. Ivory made a 3 from the left wing with :19 left to tie the game at 39, but Mitter made a 3 from the right corner with :02 left to give Missouri Western a 42-39 lead at halftime.
Calvin Chambers heaved a 65-footer that found its way through the net, but after a video review, the referees ruled the shot was taken after the buzzer sounded.
Lincoln fell behind by as many at 15 points at 60-45 with 13:01 to play in the second half.
"We felt like we were in a situation where we had everybody shooting jump shots," Moseley said. "I tried to explain to them there's no 15-point play. If we were going to get back in it, it had to be basket by basket and possession by possession."
The Blue Tigers scored on four of their next five possessions for a 9-0 run, trimming the lead to 60-54 with 9:25 to play.
Ivory's 3-pointer with 7:26 remaining put Lincoln within three points of the lead, but Hightower made a shot in the lane and Mitter hit back-to-back 3s to stretch the Missouri Western lead to 70-59.
"For Mitter to come off the bench and play as well as he did, they said that was a career high for him," Moseley said. Mitter finished with 21 points for Missouri Western (6-19, 4-14 MIAA).
Ivory led Lincoln with 23 points and Maurice Mason scored 20 points. John Burton and Chambers each added 10 points.
Lincoln (15-12, 9-9 MIAA) wraps up the regular season at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at home with a rematch against defending national champion Northwest Missouri (23-3, 15-3 MIAA). The Bearcats clinched at least a share of the MIAA regular-season title with Thursday's win at Lindenwood.
The Blue Tigers can grab the No. 7 seed in next week's MIAA Tournament with a win, while a loss would put them in a tie with Pittsburg State for eighth place.