Lincoln buckles down, prevails in overtime vs. Fort Hays State

Lincoln guards Marcel Burton (right) and Cameron Potts try to steal the ball from Fort Hays State guard Aaron Nicholson during the second half of Saturday's game at Jason Gym.
Lincoln guards Marcel Burton (right) and Cameron Potts try to steal the ball from Fort Hays State guard Aaron Nicholson during the second half of Saturday's game at Jason Gym.

On Senior Day, it was only fitting for the seniors to finish the job for the Lincoln Blue Tigers.

Jonell Burton scored the go-ahead basket off a steal under the basket in overtime, and Marcel Burton redeemed Lincoln's shaky free-throw shooting performance by going 4-of-4 from the line in the final 90 seconds.

Fort Hays State's Nyjee Wright had a 3-point attempt that was off the mark in the closing seconds, and Lincoln improved to 3-1 in overtime games this season with a 74-71 victory Saturday at Jason Gym.

"It was a gutsy performance by our team today," Lincoln coach John Moseley said. "For 30 minutes of that game, we were sleepwalking. The 12 turnovers in the first half put us in a really tough situation.

"To our guys' credit, we challenged them in a timeout with about 10 minutes to go. Whether or not it was their commitment to try to send the seniors out of here on the right note, I was really proud of the defensive effort down the stretch."

Lincoln's four seniors - Marcel Burton, Jonell Burton, L'Kielynn Taylor and DJ Ward - each scored a basket before the game's first media timeout.

Jonell Burton led Lincoln (10-14, 7-8 MIAA) with 21 points, while Marcel Burton finished with 16 points and Taylor added 13 points. Ward's 3-pointer in the game's opening minute accounted for his only points.

"This program will continue to be built on the shoulders on those who have put the work in," Moseley said. "Three of these guys have been with us for two years, and Marcel came in this year. All four of these guys will end up getting their degree from Lincoln."

Lincoln struggled in the final 15 minutes of the first half, yet only trailed Fort Hays State 33-26 at intermission.

"We talked about the word 'toughness,'" Moseley said of his halftime speech to the players. "In the first half and the first 10 minutes of the second half, they out-toughed us. I wish there was a magic bottle I could put this in, just to get the level of competitiveness we showed the last 10 minutes (of regulation) and the five minutes of overtime."

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Lincoln's largest deficit of the game was 11 points, down 47-36 with 14:57 to play in regulation. Fort Hays State went the next 4:33 without a point, but the Blue Tigers were only able to cut the deficit to five points during the drought.

"We were struggling offensively," Moseley said. "Credit their defense for a large portion of that."

Fort Hays State pushed the lead back to seven a 50-43 with just more than nine minutes to play. Lincoln's offense finally clicked, reeling off a 12-2 run in the next three minutes.

Jonell Burton hit a 3 from the left wing, then Jordan Notch knocked down a jumper from the free-throw line, making the score 50-48 with 8:17 remaining.

Marcel Burton scored a putback off his own miss, then made his third 3 of the game on Lincoln's next possession with 6:52 left. That gave Lincoln a 53-52 advantage, its first lead since it was 8-6, and it significantly raised the volume of the crowd at Jason Gym.

"It's so loud in here," Moseley said. "The crowd has the ability to influence the opponent."

Lincoln led 59-55 with four minutes to play, then Fort Hays State scored seven straight points to retake the lead 62-59 with 2:23 left.

Jonell Burton got a running start along the right sideline and raced in for a two-handed dunk, cutting Fort Hays State's lead to one with 1:45 left. The Tigers committed turnovers on their next two possessions, and Jonell Burton made 1-of-2 free throws with 1:13 left to tie the score at 62.

"We were going to win it on the defensive end," Moseley said of the two turnovers. "Guys made stops."

After Fort Hays State's second straight turnover, Marcel Burton pulled up and made a 15-foot jumper with :28 remaining, giving Lincoln a 64-62 lead. Aaron Nicholson drew a foul and made both free throws with :15 on the clock, tying the score again at 64.

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Marcel Burton's 3-point attempt from the right corner was off the mark, sending the game to overtime.

Lincoln never trailed in the extra period, as Cameron Potts scored back-to-back baskets to put the Blue Tigers ahead 68-64. Lincoln never led by more than four points in the game.

"Cam struggled for 25 minutes of that game, but he broke loose for a couple of baskets," Moseley said of Potts, who finished with 12 points.

Lincoln shot 9-of-13 from the free-throw line in the first half, then went just 6-of-14 in the second half before making all four attempts in overtime. A total of 46 fouls were called in the game, but no player fouled out.

"I just didn't want them to walk to the free-throw line and make it a free-throw shooting contest," Moseley said. "We know we don't want to do that too often."

Jared Vitztum led Fort Hays State (12-12, 5-10 MIAA) with a double-double of 24 points and 10 rebounds.

Lincoln heads to Warrensburg for a 7:30 p.m. tip Tuesday at Central Missouri, starting a four-game road trip to conclude the regular season. The Blue Tigers are in eighth place in the MIAA standings, trailing seventh-place Northeastern State by a game and a half, while holding a two-game lead against Fort Hays State and Pittsburg State, who are tied for ninth place.

The top 10 teams in the final MIAA standings advance to the MIAA Tournament in Kansas City.

"We understand how difficult it is to win in other teams' gyms, and I was very proud of the fact that we protected the home court today," Moseley said.