The Lincoln men's basketball team didn't put together its best 20 minutes of play during the first half of Friday night's game against Lane College, and coach John Moseley used it as a teaching opportunity during the halftime break.
"It was a bunch of individual things going on," Moseley said. I was pretty fired at halftime tonight. I don't do that very often, but I was really disappointed in my team because I really like this team. They've been working really hard. They've put in a lot of time and effort into it, but just getting them to understand the value of team was a challenge for us tonight."
In the second half, the Blue Tigers got everyone involved, forced some key turnovers, attacked the rim and went on to defeat the Dragons 76-67 in the Lincoln Classic at Jason Gym.
"We also did a pretty good job in the second half of making the extra pass," Moseley said. "Guys shared it a little bit more."
Tez Ivory scored 13 of Lincoln's 31 points in the first half with no one else scoring more than four. The Blue Tigers led 31-28 at the half thanks Grant Olsson draining a 3-pointer in the final seconds.
Then Terrance Smith, Olsson, Ni'Sean Rigmaiden and Jonell Burton drove to the basket for much of the second half.
Burton kick-started a 15-0 run with a two-handed slam off a baseline drive. Olsson added a tip-in a few minutes later and Rigmaiden finished it off with a steal near midcourt and a layup for a 48-33 lead with 13:55 remaining.
Lincoln shot 60.7 percent from the floor in the second half compared to 29.6 percent in the first half when the Blue Tigers were 5-of-14 from 3-point range.
"We're going to be a team that shoots 3s, but we can't forget that we have guys that can score the ball inside," Moseley said. "Certainly Terrance is a good player. He didn't get enough touches in the first half. I thought they did a better job early in the second half of making sure he's at least touching it.
"He doesn't have to shoot the ball, but him and Grant have to get the ball in the paint. At the same time we've got some guards that can get the ball in the paint. They have to stop settling for jump shots and driving the basketball."
Smith scored 13 points and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds. Olsson scored nine points and finished with five rebounds.
"I thought Grant had a really solid basketball game for us," Moseley said. "He took great shots. He was able to make a 3, which was good for us to see because we see him make a lot of shots in practice. We wanted him just to relax. He's a really good player. He's in his second year now in our program, so he's more comfortable with what we have going on."
Ivory led Lincoln with 21 points, Burton added 14 and Rigmaiden scored nine to go with a game-high four steals. Lane turned it over 21 times.
Lincoln's largest lead came when Olsson knocked down jumper for a 60-39 advantage with 8:39 left.
But Lane used a 13-2 run, capped by a pair of 3-pointers for Terrace Holt from the left wing to cut it to 66-58 with 3:59 remaining.
"To be honest I thought we went to my bench a little too early, trying to get some guys some game experience which I hope will benefit us down the road," Moseley said.
The closest Lane got was seven points when Brandon Dansoh converted a three-point play with 1:26 left.
Ivory answered with a 3 from the wing and Lincoln held on.
Dansoh paced Lane with 18 points and eight rebounds, Holt scored 15 and Ai'Shontis Sanders added 14.
Lincoln (2-1) will conclude the Lincoln Classic by facing the LeMoyne-Owen Magicians (1-2) at 2 p.m. today.
Lindenwood defeated the Magicians 78-74 in the first game of the Classic. Lane and Lindenwood will play at noon today.
"I think you'll see continued growth with this ball club," Moseley said. "I do think they want to do things the right way. Now it's just a matter of figuring out how to do that."