Lincoln men fall 86-82 to Lindenwood

Lincoln's run came a little too late Tuesday night.

The Blue Tigers got within a pair after trailing by 12 with three minutes remaining, but the Lindenwood Lions made two free throws to hold on for an 86-82 win in men's basketball action at Jason Gym.

The Blue Tigers trailed the Lions by as many as 14 points with 5:35 left and the deficit was 83-71 with 3:00 on the clock before the Blue Tigers began to come back.

Amariontez Ivory got it started with a 3-pointer at the 2:35 mark. Lindenwood got the lead back to 10 with a free throw before a Terrance Smith 3-pointer.

Ni'Sean Rigmaiden cut it to four with a layup with :42 left and Smith made it 84-82 with :13 on the clock.

Brad Newman, who scored a game-high 30 points, then made a pair of free throws and the game ended on a missed 3-point attempt.

Grant Olsson, who tied Jonell Burton for a team-high 17 points, got off to a good start by scoring Lincoln's first five points.

Lincoln led by as many as six (17-11) following a Burton layup at the 14:12 mark of the first half, but Lindenwood tied it at 17 on a Luka Radosevic 3-pointer and took the lead at the 12:27 mark on a layup by Adam Pohlman. Lincoln never led again.

Lindenwood was ahead 46-38 at halftime.

Lindenwood (14-14, 7-9 MIAA) made more than 65 percent of its shots in the first half and finished 29-of-54 (52.7 percent).

Lincoln shot 27-of-58 (46.6 percent) for the game.

Ivory scored 16 points, Smith had 14 and Rigmaiden added 12. Smith finished with a game-high eight rebounds.

Lincoln (16-9, 9-7 MIAA) will try to end its four-game losing streak when it hosts Washburn at 3 p.m. Saturday.

The Lions will host Washburn at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

III

Megan Foster had one of the best games of her collegiate career Tuesday at Jason Gym as she helped the Lindenwood Lions defeat the Lincoln Blue Tigers 86-63 in women's basketball action.

Lindenwood, receiving votes in the NCAA Division II national poll, never trailed in the game, scoring the game's first five points and leading by double digits less than five minutes in.

After a 14-4 start, a Zoi Thompson layup began a 10-3 run for Lincoln. Zhanesha Dickerson, who scored a game-high 23 points, added a three-point play and a 3-point shot to make it 16-12 with 2:53 left in the opening quarter.

Thompson later cut Lindenwood's lead to three with a layup, but the Lions led 21-14 at the end of the first quarter and the lead was back to double digits when Foster made a 3-pointer to make it 26-14 about a minute into the second quarter.

The margin reached 21 (43-22) on a three-point play by Sara Ross with 2:55 left. Lincoln then scored the final four points of the half, including a Bre Coleman jumper with :35 left.

Late in the third quarter, Foster, a former Jefferson City Lady Jay, got hot from 3-point territory. She made two long-range shots in a 30-second span for a 66-39 lead at the 1:28 mark of the third quarter.

Foster added another 3 and a layup in the fourth quarter to finish with 14 points, tying a career high. The five made shots tied a career high and the four 3s is the most the junior has made in a game.

Lindenwood made 10-of-25 from deep, including Foster's 4-of-5 performance.

Kallie Bildner led Lindenwood (18-5, 12-4 MIAA) with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Kaloni Pryear, Thompson and Coleman each scored 11 points for Lincoln (10-15, 2-14 MIAA).

The Blue Tigers will host Washburn at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Lindenwood will host Washburn at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.