Box Score CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Jon Kindred's jumper as time expired sank the hearts of the Lincoln University men's basketball team as Saint Augustine's edged the Lions, 50-49, on Tuesday night in the opening round of the CIAA Tournament at Time Warner Cable Arena.
 
“Our kids played as well and as hard as they have played all season,” Lincoln head coach John Hill said. “We've been undersized all year and I felt that Saint Augustine's College was the only team in the league that matched up with us with our size. You just have to make your own breaks and tonight the Basketball Gods were smiling on them”
 
The Falcons (14-13) advance to the second round and will meet Fayetteville State at 9 p.m., on Wednesday, Feb. 29 at Time Warner Cable Arena.
 
Denzel Mooney (Baltimore, Md./Western School of Technology) paced Lincoln with 12 points, two rebounds and a steal. Justin Jackson (Baltimore, MD/Digital Harbor HS) was 4-of-5 from the floor to finish with 10 points, three boards, one assist, one block and one steal. Chris Kinney (Washington, DC/Theodore Roosevelt SHS) led the way defensively with a game-high 10 rebounds as the Lions shot 35 percent (17-of-48) from the floor and 10-of-20 (50 percent) from the foul line.
 
“I felt the kids were very comfortable coming into tonight,” Hill said. “We missed 10 free throws and shot 50 percent from the line. That was untypical of this team.”
 
After a slow start by both teams, Saint Augustine's used an 8-2 run to take a 14-11 lead, after a Tony Freeman layup with 8:42 left in the first half. However, Lincoln responded with a 9-4 run, capped by a pair of Derrick Washington (Washington, DC/Coolidge SHS) free throws with 6:21 remaining.
 
A bucket by Tyquan Stroman gave the Falcons a 25-24 lead with 6.2 seconds left, but Justin Jackson (Baltimore, MD/Digital Harbor HS) answered with a three-point play to give Lincoln a 27-25 advantage at halftime.
 
Mooney lifted Lincoln in the second half and a big 3-pointer by Kenny Sharpe (Chester, Pa./Elite Academy) with 10:35 left gave Lincoln a 39-34 advantage and capped a 9-4 Lions run.
 
A Mooney 3-pointer from the right corner gave the Lions a 45-40 advantage with 5:13 remaining, but back came the Falcons as Tyron Laughinhouse completed a three-point play with 5:03 left to cut the margin to 45-43.
 
A free throw by Washington and a pair of free throws by Sharpe gave Lincoln a 48-45 lead with 50.7 seconds remaining. But a 3-pointer by Joel Kindred tied the game at 48 with 39 seconds left.
 
George Jackson (Baltimore, MD/Digital Harbor HS) went to the foul line with 5.5 seconds left and made 1-of-2 to give the Lions a 49-48 lead, but Saint Augustine's burned a timeout with 2.8 seconds left and that set the stage for Kindred's game-winning shot.
 
Stroman led the Falcons with 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting, while Jeremy Banks and Jon Kindred each had eight points as Saint Augustine's was 21-of-47 from the floor for 45 percent.
 
Lincoln ends its season at 11-19 and will look to replace seniors Denzel Mooney (Baltimore, Md./Western School of Technology) - a two-time All-CIAA player, Terron Jones (Bronx. NY/Fiorello H. LaGuardia HS) and Eric Johnson (Allentown, Pa./William Allen HS).