ELIZABETH CITY, NC (November 22, 2008) – The Lincoln University Lions men's basketball team lost to the Vikings from Elizabeth City State on Saturday night 97-79. (BOXSCORE)

At halftime the Lincoln Lion's were down 46-43 playing solid basketball shooting over 57 percent from the floor and 60 percent from three-point range.  However at the beginning of the second half, Elizabeth City State opened with a 15-7 run to pull ahead with the lead and didn't  look back.

With 7:32 left in the game, Lincoln came within nine points at 80-71 on a layup by sophomore center Eugene Smith (Lansdowne, PA/Penn Wood) (West Palm Beach, FL/PennWood).  However it wasn't enough as the Vikings went on a 17-8 run to close the game. 

Junior guard Bryant Leach (Philadelphia, PA/John Bartram) went back to his scoring ways for the Lion's with a team leading 21 points and six rebounds on the night.  Fellow junior guard Damian Hyman (Bronx, NY/Harry S. Truman) chipped in with 17 points and six rebounds while freshman guard Darren Clark (Boston, MA/Largo) scored 15 points and six rebounds.  Clark had a solid second half scoring 11 of his 15 in that stanza.   

The Lions were 13-32 from three points range shooting over 40 percent for the game.  Elizabeth City State out rebounded Lincoln 52-30 which made the biggest difference as the Vikings scored 26 second-chance points.

For Elizabeth City State, DeJuan Morrison led all scorers with 22 points and added five assists for good measure in the game.  Anthony Hilliard added 19 of his own points with nine rebounds and four assists.  Jamal Rouse chipped in with 16 points and Trent Bivens put in 14.  Carl Ross had a solid game for the Vikings as he had the lone double-double of the night with 12 points and 10 rebounds with seven of those rebounds coming on the offensive end. 

Lincoln University returns home for their next contest as they take on visiting Holy Family University at Manuel Rivero Hall.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30pm

--LU--