Jaylon Smith had plenty of big games at Jason Gym in his two seasons with the Lincoln Blue Tigers. It was younger brother's turn Thursday to have a banner night.
Terrance Smith finished with a season-high 30 points and added a game-high nine rebounds, leading the Blue Tigers to a 77-56 win against Fort Hays State.
"Terrance is a talented player, we thought that when we recruited him," Lincoln coach John Moseley said.
Smith, who finished one point shy of his career high set two seasons ago while at Southwestern Community College, was coming off back-to-back games where he finished with just five points total. That lowered his season average to 13.3 points entering Thursday's game
"To his credit, he came in over the last two days and really put a lot of work in," Moseley said. "He saw the fruits of those labors tonight."
The 3-point shot fell early for the Blue Tigers, accounting for 12 of their first 14 points. Smith hit a 3 from the right corner to give Lincoln a 14-11 lead with 12:50 left in the opening half.
Smith would score eight of Lincoln's next 14 points, including an old-fashioned 3-point play with 6:38 left in the half to cut Fort Hays State's lead to 28-27. However, he picked up his second foul on the ensuing possession, which sent him to the bench for the rest of the half.
The Blue Tigers did just fine in his absence.
Amariontez Ivory caught a cross-court pass from Marquise Williams and knocked down a 3-pointer, then John Burton followed with another 3, the eighth of the half for Lincoln.
Calvin Chambers drove in for a layup, capping a 14-0 Lincoln run that gave the Blue Tigers a 36-27 lead late in the first half.
"Our runs began on the defensive end," Moseley said. "We were getting stops, and the more stops you get, the more energy you have on offense."
Lincoln went into halftime with a 40-33 lead. Fort Hays State cut the deficit to five points with a basket on the opening possession, but then Smith gave the Blue Tigers a much-needed boost.
Re-entering the game to start the second half, Smith scored a putback on Lincoln's first possession, then drained a 3-pointer from the left wing to give the Blue Tigers their first double-digit lead of the game at 45-35.
"It pumped them up," Smith said. "They were waiting on me to step up this whole year. I think me stepping up riled them up and got all of us to play together."
While Lincoln finished the game with 13 3-pointers, it was the inside play that gave the Blue Tigers the edge in the second half.
"It came from being physical," Smith said. "We had to set more screens, and by us setting more screens, it helped get the bigs open. At times, that also led to wide-open 3s."
Fort Hays State closed the gap to 56-52 with about eight minutes to play. The Tigers put their best player, Hadley Gillum, on Smith, but Lincoln's 6-foot-8 junior was able to hit a step-back 3-pointer to make it a three-possession game.
Smith's 3 triggered a 19-1 Lincoln run, which included a 3-pointer by Ivory that dropped in after getting a friendly bounce.
"Sometimes the ball just falls your way," Moseley said.
Fort Hays State finished just 4-of-24 from 3-point range and only attempted four free throws the whole game. Lincoln finished 16-of-19 from the charity stripe, making its last 10 attempts in the final 7:12.
"Their offense took a lot of jump shots, so we were able to keep them off the free-throw line," Moseley said. "That was a big key. You don't want to let teams march to the free-throw line."
Ivory was the only other Blue Tiger to finish in double figures, scoring 21 points while shooting 5-of-9 from 3-point range. Burton added nine points and Maurice Mason dished out a team-high five assists, all in the first half.
"Tonight was one of our best efforts from start to finish," Moseley said. "There was a lull or two, but nothing sustained."
Gillum led Fort Hays State (12-7, 5-5 MIAA) with 19 points.
Lincoln (10-10, 4-7 MIAA) will try for its second three-game win streak of the season when it hosts Nebraska-Kearney (9-10, 5-5 MIAA) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
"Jason Gym is a fun place to play," Moseley said. "Down the stretch, we have to defend our home court."