Sunday, March 16, 2014

Lincoln Advances to ECAC Championships With 71-68 Victory over Dominican

FAIRFIELD, Connecticut  –  Justin Jackson (Baltimore, MD/Digital Harbor HS) scored 26 points lifting the Lions over Dominican College 71-68 in the Semifinal round of the 2014 ECAC Men's Basketball Tournament on Saturday, March 15th on the campus of Fairfield University.

Lincoln dominated the opening half with six made shots from three-point range. Justin Jackson (Baltimore, MD/Digital Harbor HS) made 3-of-4 attempts while George Jackson (Baltimore, MD/Digital Harbor HS) made 2-of-4 from downtown. The Lions led the entire first half and opened up a double-digit advantage after back-to-back three's by Derrick Washington (Washington, DC/Coolidge SHS) and Justin Jackson (Baltimore, MD/Digital Harbor HS) giving Lincoln a 32-22 lead at the 6:27 mark in the half.



The Lions continued to click on all cylinders and led 43-26 with three minutes remaining, springing to their largest lead. Defensively, Dominican was forced into 11 turnovers and Lincoln held a 27-14 rebounding advantage. Justin Jackson (Baltimore, MD/Digital Harbor HS) had 17 first half points while Derrick Washington (Washington, DC/Coolidge SHS) added nine points and George Jackson (Baltimore, MD/Digital Harbor HS) has eight as the Lions held a 45-31 lead over the Chargers at halftime.

 In the second half, the Chargers were the aggressors while the Lions struggled from the field. Lincoln shot 34% from the field and only made one three-pointer. After a viscous dunk by Tony Efese (Spring Valley, NY/St. Joseph Regional HS) that gave the Lions a 59-44 lead, the Chargers went on a 13-0 run to pull within two points with 6:59 left to play.

Down the stretch, both teams battled and Dominican finally tied the contest at 63-63 at the 4:10 mark.  Tony Efese (Spring Valley, NY/St. Joseph Regional HS) gave the Lions a 67-64 lead with two minutes left on consecutive layups. He also played a key role defensively with several rebounds and two blocks on the Chargers. Lincoln held onto a 69-66 lead with 38-seconds after Efese's last layup. Dominican cut the lead to 69-68 with 24-seconds left, but Derrick Washington (Washington, DC/Coolidge SHS) made two crucial free-throws with one second left in regulation and the Lions advanced to the finals with a 71-68 win.

Justin Jackson (Baltimore, MD/Digital Harbor HS) was 10-for-18 from the field including 4-of-6 from three-point range on his way to scoring a game0high 26 points. The Lions bench was led by Derrick Washington (Washington, DC/Coolidge SHS) and Tony Efese (Spring Valley, NY/St. Joseph Regional HS) who scored 14 and 12 points, respectively. Washington dished out four assists and Efese grabbed four rebounds against the Chargers. George Jackson (Baltimore, MD/Digital Harbor HS) recorded a career-high 12 rebounds with eight points and Will Cole (Newark, NJ/Cesar Chavez HS) had seven points and seven rebounds.

The Lions advance to the ECAC Championship game where they will face Caldwell College at 4 p.m.

Box Score

COURTESY THE LINCOLN UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

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