Potts' six steals lead Lincoln past Pittsburg State

Lincoln guard Cameron Potts leaps into the air to attempt a dunk during Thursday night's game against Pittsburg State at Jason Gym.
Lincoln guard Cameron Potts leaps into the air to attempt a dunk during Thursday night's game against Pittsburg State at Jason Gym.

It's been a much better week for the Lincoln men's basketball team.

After a 16-point loss at Missouri Western and a 30-point defeat at top-ranked Northwest Missouri last week, the Blue Tigers brought the defensive energy Thursday night in a 76-55 win against the Pittsburg State Gorillas at Jason Gym.

"When the ball's going through the basket it seems like you get a little bit more energy to get stops," Lincoln coach John Moseley said.

The Blue Tigers put the game away with a 21-1 run in the middle of the second half.

After Sevon Witt put the ball through the basket for a pair of second-chance points, Lincoln stole the ball away and Cameron Potts leaped to the rim and softly dropped the ball through the hoop for a 45-34 lead at the 13:09 mark.

The Blue Tigers scored seven points off steals during the run, including when Potts took away an in-bounds pass following a Pittsburg State timeout and slammed it home for a two-handed dunk to push the margin to 21 at 56-35.

Potts had six steals and 15 points.

"I just think it was effort," Moseley said. "I think Cam Potts had a tremendous defensive game on the ball. He was really good on the basketball. I thought his pressure was what kind of energized the group."

Lincoln found its stroke from long range as Ni'Sean Rigmaiden hit a 3 from the top of the key and two from the corner, Potts drained a triple from the wing and Quinton Drayton capped the run with a 3 from the corner for a 62-35 lead with 8:36 remaining.

Lincoln shot 10-of-24 from deep while Pittsburg State was 9-of-29, including a 4-of-17 clip in the first half. Lincoln led 31-24 at the break.

Drayton scored a game-high 16 points, Rigmaiden had 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting from deep and Witt added 11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

Seven of Witt's points came in the second half.

"I thought he was a more complete player in the second half and kind of settled into the game," Moseley said.

Pittsburg State big man Bobby Arthur-Williams Jr. finished with eight points and 10 rebounds, with seven of his points coming in the first 20 minutes.

"The first half I thought he did a really good job on us," Moseley said. "In second half I thought we did a little bit better job of matching his energy. He's a load, he's a good player."

Martin Vogts led the Gorillas with 14 points, four steals and four assists.

The Gorillas scored the game's first four points and led 10-2 after a 3 from Vogts less than five minutes into the game.

Drayton answered with a 3, and a 3 from Yaniel Vidal accounted for the game's lone lead change, making the score 18-16 Blue Tigers with 10:53 remaining in the first half.

Lincoln (3-2) is off until next Thursday when it plays at Emporia State.