Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Young Lions impressive in routing Virginia Union
LOWER OXFORD >> The youthful Lincoln men’s basketball team may not be ready to challenge for a conference title just yet. But on Thursday, the Lions didn’t just knock off CIAA Northern Division leader Virginia Union, they did it rather easily.
The final score was 8577, but it wasn’t really that close, which delighted the boisterous crowd at Rivero Hall. And to say it was a highly-charged atmosphere may be an understatement. So much so that security were summed to the court on several occasions during the second half to prevent fisticuffs between participants.
“We have lost a total of eight games by three or fewer points,” said interim head coach Jason Armstrong. “We’ve had leads, but this team is growing to understand how to close out games.
“We have to stay composed when things get out of whack, and handle the pressure, and we did a great job tonight. It definitely got crazy and we were able to maintain our focus and win. If we didn’t keep our composure, it could have been a game that we ended up losing.”
It’s important to note, however, that all of the drama happened as Lincoln was turning a modest three-point halftime lead into a laugher. It was pretty clear that the visiting Panthers weren’t very happy about what was happening.
“I know (Virginia Union) was upset about this loss,” Armstrong said. “They were made because they felt one of my players hit (Robert) Osborne on his lip, but Osborne actually spit on him and that can’t happen.
“I don’t appreciate that, I don’t team my kids to do that, and it was unacceptable.”
The Lions, who entered the day in fourth place in the division, improve to 6-7 (12-13 overall). The visiting Panthers fall to 9-4, 19-6.
“We knew we could beat (Virginia Union),” said senior guard Korey Williams. “We’ve stayed with the best teams in this conference. If we learn how to finish games, we will be winning most of them.
“We are very focused on not turning it over, not rushing and finishing games.”
Down by as much as eight early, the Lions fought back to lead 43-39 at the half, and then got off to a great start in the second half. A 3-pointer and a 3-point play by Williams sparked Lincoln to go on a 20-7 run to start the second half to open a 63-46 lead at the midway point.
And then, miraculously, the Lions continued to build the margin to as much as 20 on several occasions. The starters exited with over two minutes on the clock, and freshman Khimani Hopkinson delivered the exclamation point with a dunk in the closing minute.
“We had an opportunity to beat (Virginia Union) down there and we felt we were robbed,” Armstrong said of a 74-72 overtime loss back on Jan. 18th. “We showed them the tape and what we did wrong, and they learned from it. When they trapped us, we were going to attack it instead of holding it. I was proud of my guys.”
Lincoln has three regular
season games to play before the CIAA Tournament commences.
“One thing I love about the CIAA is that anybody can beat anybody on a given night if you do not come to play,” Armstrong said. “And it doesn’t matter if you are in the bottom of the standings or at the top.”
Williams scored 15 of his game-high 25 points in the second half, and added three assists.
“Once we shot it and (Virginia Union) had to come out of the zone (defense), that’s when we got them,” he said.
“Korey was phenomenal,” Armstrong added. “One thing he can do well is shoot the ball. He found his spots against the zone, he didn’t force it much, and he made big shots when we needed them.”
Guard Bakir Cleveland
added 17 points and fellow sophomore forward Peter Sorber chipped in 11 for Lincoln.
The Lions forced 17 turnovers and turned them into 24 points. And they were more aggressive, hitting more free throws (31) than the Panthers attempted (27).
“We are used to playing in front of our crowd – they are crazy,” Williams said. “But we love them because they always have our backs.”