The Lincoln Blue Tigers are finding themselves in familiar territory, playing in the men's basketball postseason.
For the sixth straight season, the Blue Tigers advanced to the MIAA Tournament, qualifying as the No. 6 seed. Lincoln is set to play tonight at No. 3 Missouri Western, with tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m. in St. Joseph.
"Both teams are very similar in styles of play," Lincoln coach John Moseley said. "They lead the league in forcing the most turnovers and offensive rebounds, which are two keys to the game."
This is Lincoln's sixth straight appearance in the conference postseason tournament. Only Northwest Missouri, Missouri Southern and Washburn have active streaks just as long.
"That says a lot about where our program is, the consistency," Moseley said. "Maybe we're not competing for championships, but the days of Lincoln finishing last in the MIAA were pretty consistent prior to my first year. Our program has taken steps in the right direction."
Lincoln (12-10) is coming off an 81-62 loss Saturday at Central Missouri. The Blue Tigers tied for fifth in the MIAA, but Central Oklahoma won head-to-head against Lincoln and earned the No. 5 seed.
"I was disappointed as a coach in how we played Saturday," Moseley said, "but I'm excited about the seeding and how the bracket shook out."
Lincoln and Missouri Western split their season series.
In the Dec. 3 matchup at St. Joseph, the Griffons came away with an 89-73 victory. Lincoln returned the favor Jan. 30, knocking off then-No. 23 Missouri Western 95-74 at Jason Gym.
"Both teams were playing without important pieces in each of those games," Moseley said. Lincoln didn't have transfer players Derrick Woods and Chuck Wilson available for the first meeting. However, in the rematch, Missouri Western's Reese Glover - the team's third-leading scorer - was coming out of COVID-19 protocol and was held scoreless by the Blue Tigers.
Moseley said the win against Missouri Western at Jason Gym was one of his team's most complete games this season.
"I thought our defensive effort allowed us to get out in transition and score some easy buckets," he said. "When we're doing that, we're a fun team."
One of the biggest concerns for the Blue Tigers entering tonight's game is their road record. Lincoln lost eight of its 11 games away from home this season, but finished 9-2 at Jason Gym.
"It's been somewhat of a head-scratcher," Moseley said. "My staff and I have been trying to evaluate our processes, to see if there's something we're missing and why our guys aren't as energetic or enthusiastic on the road."
Sevon Witt leads the Blue Tigers with 16.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. Also scoring in double figures this season for Lincoln are Quinton Drayton (16.0), Woods (11.5) and Cameron Potts (11.0).
Lincoln is averaging 75.6 points per game, while Missouri Western is scoring 79.4 points per contest.
Tyrell Caroll paces Missouri Western (13-9) with 18.5 points per game, one of five Griffons to average better than 10 points per contest. The other four are Will Eames (12.5), Glover (11.7), Caleb Bennett (11.4) and Q Mays (11.1).
Eames also leads the team with 8.9 rebounds per game.
The winner of tonight's game advances to play either No. 2 Washburn (16-6) or No. 7 Rogers State (11-11) in the semifinals, which will be played Friday at the site of the highest remaining seed of the semifinal teams.
"The 'win or go home' mindset helps create a sense of urgency that I hope this group will realize the significance of being able to compete here," Moseley said. "We packed enough clothes to stay for the weekend."
The MIAA did the improbable during the 2020-21 basketball season, playing all 308 men's and women's regular-season games. The conference tournament champion will receive an automatic berth to the NCAA Division II Tournament, which will have its bracket announced Sunday.
"It solidifies our stance that the MIAA is the best Division II conference in the country," Moseley said. "It's pretty neat to think that this group of administrators got together beginning last March and started formulated a plan. Our fall sports got derailed, but we were able to get in winter sports once the (COVID-19) testing policy changed a little bit from the NCAA.
"At Lincoln, we were really fortunate to have access to rapid testing for almost the entire season. We're really thankful to get all of our games in and play the closest thing to a full schedule during a COVID season as you can play."