If the Lincoln men's basketball team could win one of its final two home games this week, the Blue Tigers would seal one more home game in the MIAA Tournament to begin postseason play.
There were many scenarios heading into the regular-season finale, and the odds still favored Lincoln to host a playoff game.
But as it turns out, Saturday's 73-55 loss to 10th-ranked Northwest Missouri would be Lincoln's last game of the season at Jason Gym.
"You have to play well out of the gate, you can't let them get separation," Lincoln coach John Moseley said of Northwest Missouri, which clinched the MIAA regular-season title outright with Saturday's win for a 16-3 record.
Pittsburg State upset Central Missouri 74-70 on Saturday to move into a tie with Lincoln for eighth place in the final MIAA standings with a 9-10 conference record. The two teams split their two head-to-head matchups, so the next tiebreaker was which team had the better win against the MIAA's top finishers.
Pittsburg State's best win came last month against Washburn, which finished third in the final MIAA standings, while Lincoln's best win came last week against Central Missouri, which slipped to fifth place in the final standings due to a five-game losing streak.
The Gorillas won the tiebreaker and will host Lincoln at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The winner will advance to the MIAA Tournament quarterfinals in Kansas City.
"I take responsibility," Moseley said. "We had chances down the stretch. We feel like we gave a game away Thursday night. Missouri Western deserved to win, but we didn't play our best."
Lincoln never led in Saturday's contest, falling behind 12-2 five minutes into the game.
While Northwest Missouri boasts a roster with seven players standing at least 6-foot-7, Moseley said the size advantage isn't what won the game for the Bearcats.
"They hurt you shooting the basketball," Moseley said, as the Bearcats shot 52 percent from the field. "They have so many guys that can spread you out and make shots."
After the 10-minute mark of the first half, Lincoln cut the Northwest Missouri lead to eight points on six different occasions. The Blue Tigers would never get closer than that, trailing 37-27 at halftime.
"We had a possession where we were down eight and we were executing well offensively," Moseley said. "We missed a 3 from the top of the key that would have been a huge momentum swing for us, and this building would've gotten really cranked up."
Lincoln trailed 50-42 with 12 minutes to play. Northwest Missouri scored the next seven points, then made three straight 3-pointers a few minutes later to push the lead to 68-47.
Joey Witthus led Northwest Missouri (24-3) with 22 points. Justin Pitts, the reigning NCAA Division II player of the year, finished with 13 points and seven assists.
Maurice Mason, one of Lincoln's two seniors honored prior to the game, had team-highs of 20 points and seven assists. Terrance Smith finished with 13 points.
"Maurice has done really well for us, he's been a floor general," Moseley said.
Lincoln's other senior, Alexander Nailes, started the game but was held scoreless.
"After we put him in the starting lineup, we reeled off seven wins in eight games," Moseley said.
Lincoln (15-13) faces Pittsburg State (16-12) next, looking to win a first-round game in the MIAA Tournament for a third straight season. The winner plays top-seeded Northwest Missouri at 6 p.m. Friday at Municipal Auditorium.
"I think it will be an exciting game on Tuesday night," Moseley said. "We'll hit the road. Our guys have been comfortable and we've played well. We won four out of our nine road games (in MIAA play) this year.
"This group will show some fight on Tuesday night."