The momentum and hype around the Lincoln men’s basketball team continues to grow, and Jefferson City continues to show out at Jason Gym for its hometown team.
The crowd made all the difference Thursday night in the MIAA contest between the Missouri Southern Lions and the Blue Tigers, as Lincoln pulled away for a 76-57 victory down the stretch in front of a raucous Jason Gym crowd.
“No question, the crowd was huge again,” Lincoln coach Jimmy Drew said. “They responded to it and that got our guys going. … This atmosphere is incredible.”
The Blue Tigers were holding a 44-43 lead with just more than eight minutes left when Lincoln president John Moseley and athletic director Kevin Wilson joined the Blue Tiger students to get the packed crowd to its peak volume level.
There is zero question the effect it had on the game, as Lincoln went on a 14-2 run directly after to extend the lead to 58-45 with 3:38 left.
“It was crazy out there,” Lincoln senior forward Sai Witt said. “I was out there yelling at the top of my lungs and nobody could hear me. It was crazy.”
DJ Richardson started the big run with an and-1 layup, Kevin Kone followed with a rip drive for a layup, Richardson knocked down a 3, Artese Stapleton got a steal that turned into another and-1 layup before Vinson Sigmon Jr. stopped the bleeding for Missouri Southern with a mid-range jumper, but Sam Rautins quickly answered for Lincoln with a 3 off a Stapleton assist.
“We tell ourselves that shots are going to fall eventually, but we have to be consistent with our defense no matter what,” Stapleton said. “That keeps us in games. Shots weren’t falling in the first half but our defense kept us in that one.”
The Lions cut their deficit to 60-50 with 2:50 remaining after an and-1 by Sigmon Jr., but the Blue Tigers went on one final 6-0 run to erase any questions of the outcome.
Rautins opened the flurry with a corner 3 off a Richardson assist, Witt knocked down two free throws and Kone finished it by making 1-of-2 at the line to create the biggest margin of the game yet with 2:06 left.
“It’s very hard to guard us, we have so many weapons on the court,” Witt said. “Way too many weapons, it’s pick your poison with us. It’s pretty hard to stop us, I like to say.”
Lincoln won the first matchup 84-82 on Jan. 23 in Joplin, but the Blue Tigers made it a statement to make this contest much more physical and more of a defensive battle.
That is exactly what the first 30-plus minutes of Thursday’s game looked like.
“I think both halves our guys put together pretty close to a 40-minute game and that’s what we have been challenging them to do,” Drew said.
The biggest lead of the first half came at 13-5 after Stapleton capped off a 5-0 run by himself with a floater, but Missouri Southern quickly scored six straight to move within two.
Lincoln stretched its lead back out to 20-13 before the Lions had their way down the stretch before intermission.
Missouri Southern went on a 13-4 run -- scoring the final eight points of the half -- and the Lions were able to take their only lead of the opening 20 minutes into the locker room at 26-24.
“We just had to keep our heads,” Witt said. “Keep composure, we have an older team, older guys. We knew we had been here before, this ain’t nothing we haven’t practiced or seen in a game. We work on this, so we went in level-headed and came back out and executed.”
Four players reached double figures in scoring for Lincoln (14-5, 10-5 MIAA), led by Stapleton’s double-double of 24 points and 12 boards. Witt also picked up a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, Richardson finished with 16 points and Sam Rautins ended with 13 following a 3-point barrage at the end of the game.
Avery Taggart led the way for Missouri Southern (14-8, 10-6) with 13 points.
The Blue Tigers return to action at 3:30 p.m. Saturday against Pittsburg State at Jason Gym.