The Lincoln Blue Tigers made sure men's basketball interim head coach Ed Wilson enjoyed Tuesday night's home opener.
All 11 players scored, all 11 players grabbed at least one rebound and Wilson earned his first career win as a head coach, as the Blue Tigers won in a rout 101-55 against the Central Christian College of the Bible Saints at Jason Gym.
Wilson's first win came in Lincoln's final non-conference game of the season.
"No. 1 is always good, no matter what time it is," Wilson said.
It was a sluggish opening few minutes for the Blue Tigers, but Destan Williams' 3-pointer at the 17:36 mark of the first half gave Lincoln the lead for good at 7-5. That began an 11-0 run, which also featured a 3 from Chuck Wilson and a second-chance basket by Chris Baldwin.
"The first couple minutes of the game can be rough on some of the guys," Ed Wilson said. "Being 0-4, I think it bothered some of our guys. We're just trying to be positive and trust the process."
Lincoln used another 11-0 run to stretch its lead to 29-11 midway through the first half. The Blue Tigers thrived in transition, outscoring the Saints 29-4 on the fast break.
"That's part of our identity," Wilson said.
Derrick Woods scored Lincoln's final points of the first half on a pair of layups, pushing the lead to 43-22 at intermission. The Blue Tigers shot 70 percent (12-of-17) from 2-point range in the first 20 minutes, but they shot just 6-of-18 beyond the arc.
The 3-point shooting improved drastically in the second half, as the Blue Tigers were 11-of-20 from 3 after halftime.
"In the first half, we took a lot of 3s off the bounce," Wilson said. "In the second half, we had a lot of 3s that were assisted upon. In the second half, we did a better job of getting into the paint and kicking it out."
Alafia Oluwasogo scored seven straight points for the Blue Tigers, who were doubling up CCCB 56-28 with 15:34 to play. Wilson followed with back-to-back 3s, then Ni'Sean Rigmaiden hit another 3 to make the score 65-35.
Wilson led the Blue Tigers with 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting from 3, but the Rock Bridge graduate also had a team-high nine assists.
"He dribbles with his head up, he can see plays before they develop," his father, Ed Wilson, said.
Lincoln led 82-45 at the final media timeout with less than five minutes to play. Even with the game decided by that point, that's when Wilson issued a challenge to his team.
"I just told them, 'Hey, I need you to play these last five minutes like you're in a championship game,'" he said. "You try to finish out strong, and we needed to see energy and high intensity on both ends."
Lincoln shot 7-of-11 to finish the game, as Mark Boland and Wilson each knocked down a pair of 3s in the final five minutes.
Rigmaiden added 16 points and seven assists, while Williams scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half. Woods and Oluwasogo each chipped in 10 points.
Quincy James Jr. came off the bench to lead CCCB (4-3) with 12 points, while Tyce Laubinger had eight points and 10 rebounds. Rodrigo Nunez, the Saints' 6-foot-9 post player, finished with 10 points, but the Blue Tigers held him scoreless in the second half.
"This was great, because now we've got something positive going into our conference," Wilson said.
Lincoln (1-4) will begin its 22-game slate in the MIAA on Saturday at Central Missouri. The women's game tips off at 1 p.m., followed by the men's game at 3 p.m. in Warrensburg.
"Central Missouri has a really good team with experienced players," Wilson said. "We have to prepare to get our first in the conference and our second win on the season."