KUTZTOWN, Pa. — Facing its highest-ranked opponent of 2009-2010, the Lincoln men's basketball team team faded in a fury of three-pointers by No. 7 Kutztown University Tuesday night, falling 88-76 at Keystone Hall.
Lincoln held a 44-41 lead near midway through the second half, but Kutztown put together a string of second half runs. Lincoln crawled within three before the Golden Bears finally pulled away in the waning moments. Ultimately, five second-half three pointers by KU, and 22 turnovers proved costly for the Lions. With the loss, Lincoln drops to 1-7.
Darrell Mosley (Chester, PA/Chester ) (Chester, PA, Chester) had a career-high 22 points in 26 minutes of action while manning the point. Denzel Mooney (Baltimore, Md./Western School of Technology) (Baltimore, MD, Western School of Technology) knocked down a game-high four 3-point shots for 12 of his 18 points, and Darren Clark (Boston, MA/Largo) (Boston, MA, Largo, MD) had a double-double with 17 points and 10 boards. Eugene Smith (West Palm Beach, Fl/PennWood ) (West Palm Beach, FL, Penn Wood) had a team-high 12 rebounds.
Those well-rounded efforts were negated by Kutztown's tandem of Ryan Washington and Stephen Dennis, who had 28 and 27 points respectively. Tamir Johnson had a game-high 14 rebounds as KU improved to 7-0.
Lincoln was in its first action since a 73-71 win over the University of the Sciences Dec. 4 because a Dec. 19 matchup against Cheyney University was postponed due to the blizzard that blanketed much of the Northeast.
The layoff left LU looking sluggish early with 14 first-half turnovers, several of which came off miss-guided passes into traffic.
Hurting the effort further against one of the nation's best teams was the absence of Dante Blanton-Holcombe (Baltimore, MD/Dunbar) (Baltimore, MD, Dunbar) after sustaining a foot injury in practice earlier this month. He will be out indefinitely, and there is no timetable for his return.
A three-point shot by Mooney got Lincoln within one at 8-7 six minutes into the game. LU, though, hung with one of the nation's elite team for much of the first half with Mosley directing the offense, as LU trailed 23-21 with seven minutes to go when Damian Hyman (Bronx, NY/Harry S. Truman) (Bronx, NY, Harry S. Truman) slammed home an alley-oop toss from point guard Clark.
The Golden Bears stretched the advantage to 10, but Mooney responded with his third three of the opening stanza on the ensuing possession. LU trailed at intermission, 37-31 as Hyman knocked down a three at the buzzer. Mooney had 13 first-half points for LU and Washington had 18 at the break for KU.
LU sustained that momentum and turned it into a lead at 42-40 with 16:27 left Mosley made two consecutive buckets for its first lead of the game.
After LU went up up 44-41, Kutztown displayed its talent with a 12-0 run highlighted by a three-point shot by Ivory Wells. Mosley ended the rally by making a free throw, but KU enjoyed a 53-45 advantage with 11:30 to go.
Mosley, though, continued to grind away, and with seven minutes left, earned his 17th point of the knight by knocking down a three from the wing, bringing Lincoln to within 58-55.
Kutztown asserted control once more, capping a quick spurt with a three pointer by Wells for a 77-63 lead, KU's largest of the night at the time.
Lincoln returns to action with against at Shaw University in Raleigh, N.C. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.
— LU—
