Box Score
LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pa. — Holy Family spoiled double-doubles by Eugene Smith (West Palm Beach, Fl/PennWood ) and Terron Jones (Bronx. NY/Fiorello H. LaGuardia HS) and the debut of new head coach John Hill in the season opener for the Lincoln University men's basketball team, prevailing in overtime, 52-44.
“I was pleased,” Hill said. “They played with a lot of passion. If we can maintain that kind of effort throughout the season, we should be all right.”
The Tigers (1-2) scored the game's final 10 points to earn their first win of the season.
Jones would reach career highs in both points and rebounds, ending with 12 points in each category. The Lions were led by the play of lone senior Smith, who would also rack up a double-double, finishing with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
It was Smith's third-career double-double and the dozen boards tied a career high, a mark he set Jan. 21, 2009 against the University of the Sciences.
“We're just trying to put things together,” Smith said. “We know we could have won this game, but there were some jitters in the first game. We'll win the next one.”
The game was a defensive grind. The Lions were actually more efficient from the field at 34 percent to 21.4 percent, but Lincoln's outside shooting went cold late, as Holy Family rallied from an eight-point deficit. The Lions led 29-21 when Emmanuel Kakulu (Boston, MA/Another course of College) knocked down a trey for 30 seconds into second period.
HFU went on a 11-2 run to tie the game at 32-32 with 10:42 left in regulation and would go up by as many as four in regulation until Denzel Mooney (Baltimore, Md./Western School of Technology) scored five-consecutive points, retrieving a 39-38 lead for the Lions.
LU had the opportunity to win the game in regulation, but an in-bounds pass from Zane Oxley (Philadelphia/Martin Luther King HIgh School) with 2.3 seconds left barely missed connecting with Smith on an alley-oop.
With Lincoln down by two points with three minutes left in the second half, Smith's up-and-under iced Holy Family's 6-foot-11 center to tie the game and force overtime. However, the Lions were silenced in overtime as they were outscored 10-2.
The Lions controlled the first half of the game with good outside shooting and solid defensive pressure. Jones, a sophomore guard, knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers in the first half. In the opening stanza, Lincoln was 10-of-21 from the field, staking to a 26-21 lead at the intermission.
Up Next
After this contest, Lincoln Travels to Salem International in Salem, West Va., on Nov. 22. Next Friday at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, Pa., Lincoln and Cheyney meet in the hardwood edition of the Battle of The Firsts. Last year, the Wolves edged Lincoln, 76-74.
— LU —
