RICHMOND, Va. (February 24, 2011) — Senior forward Eugene Smith (West Palm Beach, Fl/PennWood ) saved the biggest moment of his career for his final regular season game.
The West Palm Beach, Fla., native converted a three-footer along the baseline as time expired lifting Lincoln to a thrilling, 73-71, double overtime victory over Saint Paul's College on Thursday night at Barco-Stevens Hall. It was Lincoln's first road win of the season.
The night provides much needed momentum heading into the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Men's Basketball Tournament, which starts on Wednesday in Charlotte, N.C. at the Time-Warner Arena.
With everybody in the building anticipating All-CIAA guard Denzel Mooney (Baltimore, Md./Western School of Technology) to take the final shot, the junior found Smith along the baseline through traffic, who converted the opportunity.
The sequence began with Mooney coming off a ball screen, but the Tigers (8-17, 8-13 CIAA, 4-8 North) defended it well with a double team.
“When I saw Denzel pick his dribble up and he had nowhere to go with the ball, I found an open spot on the floor,” Smith said. “I flashed him and said 'I have to make this shot if he passes it,' and he did. I got it, squared up, released it, and it bounced around couple of times and went in.”
Lincoln (4-22, 2-16 CIAA, 2-10 North) will play the No. 2 seed from either the Northern or Southern Divisions, which could be Virginia Union, Winston-Salem State or Shaw University as the tiebreakers sort themselves out on the final night.
Mooney and Smith had big nights apart from the final play. Mooney went 11-for-17 including 5-of-7 from behind the arc for 33 points, his sixth game with at least 30. Smith, meanwhile, was 6-for-10 for 14 points. Both finished with a team-high six rebounds.
The Lions also got a significant contribution from Terron Jones (Bronx. NY/Fiorello H. LaGuardia HS), who was 4-for-9 including 2-for-4 from the perimeter for 13 points. He also hit big shots in the final moments of regulation while Mooney dealt with foul trouble. Richard Glover (Baltimore, Md./Havre De Grace HS) also had seven key points off the bench.
“It was so nice to get a crucial win,” Mooney said. “We did so many things where it could've gone the other way but we all stayed poised. It was a big step for everybody.”
Indeed, this was a game that Lincoln had grown accustomed to losing. Over the last three seasons the Lions had lost eight-straight overtime games.
But the culture appears to be changing. Last Wednesday, LU broke the drought in extra minutes by dominating overtime against Salem International in a 76-69 win.
“It's momentum. It's positive for everybody. Coaches, players, everybody,” Mooney said. “This is something positive to build off of going into the tournament. Now we feel compete.”
With the regular season now complete, the Lions must contend with their first-ever appearance in the CIAA tournament. As the Lions wait to learn their opponent, a simple fact remains. Regardless of who Lincoln plays, it will be the underdog, yet with these two wins in the last week coming in such spectacular fashion, a sense of confidence is brewing at the most opportune time.
“It feels good to get that that road win and winning a game going into the tournament. It feels real good and promising and that we might go and really compete for the first game,” Smith said. “It doesn't really matter who we play. We just have to get in there and execute and do what we know we can do. We just have to give it a full-fledged effort. We can beat anybody as long as we play with maximum effort.”
— LU —
