Frustration in defeat for Lincoln men

Jaylon Smith of Lincoln catches the ball and keeps his eye on the basket during Thursday night's game with Central Oklahoma at Jason Gym.
Jaylon Smith of Lincoln catches the ball and keeps his eye on the basket during Thursday night's game with Central Oklahoma at Jason Gym.

The Lincoln Blue Tigers didn't hide their frustration.

In their return to Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association play against the Central Oklahoma Bronchos, the Blue Tigers were whistled for two technical fouls and battled foul trouble early on. In the end, the Bronchos pulled away to a 78-70 win Thursday at Jason Gym, handing Lincoln its third loss at home this season.

Lincoln lost just twice (12-2) on its home floor last season.

"We made too many boneheaded plays tonight," Lincoln coach John Moseley said. "We did things that are uncharacteristic of my team."

The two teams combined for 23 fouls in the first half, leading to 27 total free throws. While both teams made 11 free throws in the first half, foul trouble hit harder on Lincoln.

Jaylon Smith went to the bench with three fouls when he picked up a technical foul at the 6:04 mark of the first half. Lincoln's leading scorer this season had just two points at halftime.

The Blue Tigers' other technical foul was called on O'Shai Clark with 9:31 left in the second half. Central Oklahoma's Josh Holliday knocked down both free throws to trim Lincoln's lead to 59-58.

"We had two technical fouls, one when we were up three, and we sent them to the free-throw line," Moseley said. "Those are killers. It's stuff that I don't tolerate as a coach, and we'll be addressing it."

With Smith on the bench, Anthony Virdure took charge of Lincoln's offense. The senior scored layups on back-to-back possessions to give Lincoln a 30-28 lead late in the first half.

However, Central Oklahoma closed the half on a 10-3 run to lead 40-36 at halftime.

When Smith returned to the game in the second half, he gave the Blue Tigers a jolt. He started an 11-0 run with his only 3-pointer of the game, then capped the run with a basket at the 14:40 mark to give Lincoln a 52-45 lead, its biggest of the game. Lincoln's lead wouldn't last for long though.

"We just couldn't get any separation," Moseley said. "Early in the second half, we had opportunities to try to get the lead to six or eight (points) and we just never could."

Holliday brought back Central Oklahoma (9-4, 4-1 MIAA) with a 3-pointer to tie the game at 56. He finished with a game-high 28 points and was 13-of-14 at the free-throw line.

Smith had a dunk off a steal with 6:49 to play, pushing Lincoln's lead to 64-60. Central Oklahoma rolled off six straight points and never trailed again.

Moseley was frustrated with his team's defense late in the game. During a Central Oklahoma possession in the final minute, Lincoln (9-5, 2-3 MIAA) fouled with six seconds left on the shot clock.

"At that point, if you haven't fouled by then, you've got to play it out and trust your defense to get a stop," Moseley said.

Holliday scored an old-fashioned 3-point play with :35.3 left to extend the Bronchos' lead to 76-70.

Lincoln did not make a basket in the final 3:26 of the game, following a dunk by Tacourrus Mattox to tie the game at 67.

Virdure finished with a team-high 23 points - playing all 40 minutes - and Smith added 12 points. However, Lincoln's top two scorers combined to shoot 11-of-33 from the field and 3-of-14 beyond the 3-point line.

"The ball wasn't falling in for us as easily as it was for them," Moseley said of the Blue Tigers shooting 38.3 percent from the field, compared to 51 percent for Central Oklahoma. "We were having to work a little bit harder to get points."

Mattox finished with nine points and a team-high nine rebounds for Lincoln.

The Blue Tigers will host Northeastern State at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

"We'll spend a lot of time tomorrow on film of things that we just didn't do well tonight that we've got to get better at," Moseley said. "We had too many 'not winning' plays tonight, and we have to be smarter."