For a few minutes Tuesday night, the scoreboard at Jason Gym had the Lincoln Blue Tigers trailing 99-2.
It was simply a temporary scoreboard error that was quickly fixed, but as it turned out, those 99 points still wouldn't have been enough to help the Robert Morris-Springfield Eagles in the long run.
Six players scored in double figures for Lincoln and Anthony Virdure had 18 points, leading the Blue Tigers to a 105-55 win.
Lincoln (5-2) is off to its best start since the 1981-82 season.
"You don't have these opportunities in January and February typically," Lincoln coach John Moseley said. "It is good to get our legs back underneath us after a tough one on Saturday.
"Conference play is almost a week away at this point, and that's when it really, truly counts."
Lincoln used a 12-0 run in the opening four minutes to ensure it would never trail Tuesday. Maurice Mason picked up a pair of early assists and then knocked down a 3-pointer. Richie Lewis finished the run by scoring on a putback to give the Blue Tigers a 14-1 advantage.
Later in the first half, Lincoln scored 14 unanswered points to lead 30-5 with 9:39 to play.
Lincoln held Robert Morris-Springfield to 20.8 percent shooting in the first half. At one point in the opening 20 minutes, the Blue Tigers had scored 16 points of eight turnovers they forced against the Eagles.
"I thought our pressure in the first half really bothered them," Moseley said. "We were able to create some turnovers. If you look back at the last four minutes of Saturday's game, our defense created some offense for us. That's something we put an emphasis on the last two days at practice."
Lincoln held a 51-14 lead at halftime and was on pace to break the school's single-game record for fewest points allowed, which was 34 against Messenger during the 2000-01 season. Terrell Herndon ended the Blue Tigers' record-setting hopes in a hurry.
Herndon knocked down a trio of 3-pointers in the first three minutes of the second half. He led the Eagles with a game-high 20 points, scoring 17 in the second half.
Robert Morris-Springfield (0-7) finally found its shooting touch in the second half. Lincoln's only got better after halftime.
The Blue Tigers shot 63.3 percent from the field in the second half and hit eight threes after the break.
"It was about taking quality shots," Moseley said. "When you start to get a lead, it's hard to keep their focus, but I thought our guys did a pretty good job of staying locked in."
Lincoln had four dunks in the game, including an alley oop from Virdure to Jaylon Smith late in the first half. Darrius Spencer had a pair of dunks and his second gave Lincoln a 102-47 lead with 3:21 to play.
"I feel like our team is very strong in transition," Moseley said. "Transition is created from your defense. Getting these guys to lock in and understand the value of each possession has been a little bit of a challenge. Tonight, they did a much better job with it."
Smith finished with 17 points and Tacourrus Mattox added 11 points for the Blue Tigers. Three players came off the bench to score in double figures, led by Mason with 12 points. Spencer scored a career-high 11 points and Chase Morfeld finished with 10 points.
The Blue Tigers also grabbed 52 rebounds, with no player finishing the game with more than six rebounds.
"Four guards are out-rebounding our bigger guys," Moseley said. "We know as team, when you enter conference play, that stat has to change, or you're going to come up on the short end a lot of nights."
All 12 Lincoln players who stepped on the court Tuesday had at least one point and one rebound.
As pleased as Moseley was with his team's performance, he said the free-throw shooting is still a cause for concern. Lincoln struggled from the line, making just 10-of-24 attempts.
"We've just got to step up and make them," Moseley said. "Free throws are like putts in golf. They become a mental thing if you spend too much time talking about them.
"Tomorrow's our day off and I'd be surprised if we didn't have a lot of guys in the gym getting extra free throws."
Lincoln will play Harris Stowe at 3 p.m. Saturday in the Show-Me State Classic at St. Charles.