BOX SCORE
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — Eugene Smith (West Palm Beach, Fl, PennWood ) preserved Lincoln's elusive first victory with a game-saving block Thursday as the LU men defeated the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, 73-71.
After missing the front end of a one-and-one, Smith blocked Adewale Adefemi and came down with the ball as time expired, as Lincoln saw a double-digit lead evaporate over the final 12 minutes of the game.
Lincoln improves to 1-5 in 2009-10.
LU was led in points by Dante Blanton-Holcombe (Baltimore, MD, Dunbar) 27 points, his second straight game with 20+ points. At one point, he scored 13 straight points as LU separated itself from the Sciences. Darren Clark (Boston, MA, Largo) rode 12 first-half points to a 14-point effort, and Shawn Rodgers (Philadelphia, PA, Imhotep) had 10 critical post points for the Lions. Smith had 10 rebounds to complement his one block.
As has been the norm through the early part of the season, LU grabbed a sizeable early advantage when Ladaye Johnson (Wilmington, DE, Hodgson Vo-Tech) scored five straight Lincoln points for a 9-6 advantage with 13:40 remaining in the opening period.
Clark pick-pocketed a Sciences guard and got the fast-break lay-up to drop despite being fouled. He converted the three-point play, then stole the Devils' next possession and got the basket, enabling Lincoln to extend the lead to 16-8.
After Ryan Duffy hit a short jumper in the lane to get Sciences within three, Blanton-Holcombe took over by scoring 13 consecutive points.
The senior guard from Baltimore drained three threes in a row, and on the last one, he got fouled and hit the free throw for a 33-22 LU lead with 6:30 left in the first half. On LU's next possession, he had another three-point play, but this time it was the old fashioned variety after driving, laying it in and putting down the foul shot.
In the first half, LU hit five threes and went a perfect 10-of-10 from the line. Blanton-Holcombe finished the half with 15 points with Clark trailing with 12 points and four assists as Lincoln sped off to a 46-35 edge.
Rodgers had a big first half for Lincoln, scoring the team's first two points and picking up several big buckets as the Devils attempted to get back in the game.
To start the second half, Sciences went on a 6-0 run to cut within two quickly but Lincoln maintained its poise and re-extended its lead to double digits when Blanton-Holcombe drained yet threes on consecutive possessions as the Devils could only hit one of two from the charity stripe for a 61-51 game with 12:30 left.
With 3:56 left, Blanton-Holcombe picked up his fourth foul and was forced to exit with LU up five, and shortly after, the Sciences crawled within two when Myer Messinger picked up two critical paint points, but Darrell Mosley (Chester, PA, Chester) answered with an off-balance drive.
Messinger picked up a costly offensive foul attempting to grab a rebound several possessions later to put Smith on the line. Smith's shot bounced off the iron, sending the Devils up the floor, but Smith raced back and got the pivotal block.
The Lincoln men will wait to play until Dec. 19 when they face Cheyney at 8 p.m. at the Liacouras Center.
— LU—
