Lincoln Blue Tigers Hold Off Hornets For Fifth-Straight Win

EMPORIA, Kansas --  Anthony Virdure scored 26 points andRichie Lewis had a double-double to lead the Lincoln men's basketball team to a 71-65 win over Emporia State on Saturday (Jan. 2). The Blue Tigers improved to 9-3 overall and 5-1 in the MIAA in the win, Lincoln's fifth in a row and first in a true road game.

Jaylon Smith made a pair of threes to help Lincoln take an early 12-3 lead, and a pair of Virdure free throws put Lincoln ahead by 11 with 14:18 left in the half. Emporia State (6-6, 3-3 MIAA) stormed back to cut the LU advantage to 23-19 at the 11:18 mark, but the Blue Tigers scored on three-straight possession to go back up by 10 by the second media timeout.

Emporia State shot .520 overall and .600 from long range in the first half, and as a result was able to close the gap down to 39-36 after hitting a buzzer-beating jumper just before halftime. The Hornets then began the second half on a 13-1 run, and led by six with 11:42 remaining.

An old-fashioned three-point play by Aaron Spudich began Lincoln's comeback, and Virdure sank a three to pull LU to within 53-51 with 10 minutes to play. The Blue Tigers then tied the game on a pair of free throws from Lewis before two shots at the line by Virdure and a layup from Tacourrus Mattox gave Lincoln a 57-53 advantage.

Lincoln would not trail again from that point forward, with a trey by Smith giving LU a 65-59 lead with 3:31 remaining. Emporia State scored five unanswered to close the gap down to one, but a jumper by Virdure and two more free throws by Lewis gave Lincoln a two-score advantage in the game's final minute. The Blue Tiger defense proved too tough to score on late, as ESU scored just one point in the contest's final two minutes.

Lewis and Smith each scored 12 points, with Lewis also grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing four assists. Mattox and Smith each tallied six boards, with Mattox additionally scoring six points, dishing a pair of assists and registering three steals. In addition to his game-high point total, Virdure also pulled down five rebounds and dropped two dimes.

O'Shai Clark added six points, a block, two assists and two steals to the LU cause while Spudich finished with five points and a pair of rebounds. Rod Ollison rounded out the scoring with four points and grabbed five rebounds.

As a team, Lincoln shot .479 from the floor and out-rebounded the Hornets, 37-31. LU defensively held ESU to .324 shooting in the second half, with Emporia State hitting just two of its 12 attempts from three-point land. With the win, LU now has nine victories in a season for the first time since 2001-02, which is also the last time the Blue Tigers had a five-game winning streak.

Lincoln will be back in action on Monday (Jan. 4), traveling to Topeka, Kan. to play Washburn at 7:30 p.m. CST

BOX SCORE

By Dan Carr, Assistant AD for Media Relations
COURTESY LINCOLN UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS