LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pa. — The past couple of games may have been too emotionally draining for the Lions who had won two consecutive games in a row with victories against Bowie State University on Tuesday, as well as Saint Paul's College on Thursday.
That same Saint Paul's team appeared angered by the loss the night before and set on spoiling the season finale, which they did, defeating the Lincoln men, 104-60, Friday night at Manuel Rivero Hall.
This Senior Night commemorated five starting seniors, Dante Blanton-Holcombe (Baltimore, MD/Dunbar) (Baltimore, Md./Dunbar), Darrell Mosley (Chester, PA/Chester ) (Chester, Pa./Chester), Aaron Lloyd (Cheltenham, PA/Cheltenham) (Cheltenham, Pa./Cheltenham), Ladaye Johnson (Wilmington, DE/Hodgson Vo-Tech) (Wilmington, Del./Hodgson, Vo.Tech) and Damian Hyman (Bronx, NY/Harry S. Truman) (Bronx, N.Y./Harry S. Truman)
“Normally I'm not so emotional,” said Lloyd, a senior from Cheltenham, Pa. “It was kind of surreal to think that it was actually my last game.”
Lloyd averaged 4.3 rebounds and 4.1 points in 21 games and survived a horrific car accident, but came back stronger than ever. Boasting the highest GPA on the team, he had an 11 point night earlier this season.
Blanton-Holcombe, a senior from Baltimore, reached 1,000 career points on Feb. 5 against Virginia Union. His best performance was against Saint Paul's two years ago, a 47-point effort in a game in overtime. Tonight, he began with several deep threes in an attempt to keep pace with a Saint Paul's.
Mosley,a senior from Chester Pa, proved to be an offensive and defensive leader by always being willing to drive to the basket or take a charge. On Dec. 29 he had a career-high 22 points versus No. 7 Kutztown and had seven assists against Virginia State. In this contest, he showed those same traits.
Johnson, a senior from Wilmington Delaware, scored more than 600 points in only three seasons. He had 27 points in a game earlier this year behind a career-high tying five 3-pointers.
Hyman averaged 14 points a game last year and had a 1000-point career at Alfred State before entering LU for his junior season. He had a career-high 29 points versus Virginia Union earlier this year.
But all of these achievements were not enough to help the Lions win. The first half was a struggle for the Lincoln Lions who started with all five of their seniors. Although the Lions started the game off making the first shot of the night on a three by Lloyd, Lincoln had a hard time trying to regain the lead. A number of threes from Lloyd, Hyman, and Blanton-Holcombe, a total of 12 points, was not enough to bring the Lions ahead in the first half.
The Lions trailed behind by 19 points at half time, 46-27.
But the second half would be no better for Lincoln, who trailed behind for the rest of the game.
