Men's Basketball | 2/26/2015 10:17:00 PM

Box Score CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Feb. 26, 2015) – The Livingstone Blue Bears started their run at attempting to defend their CIAA Championship, as Eric Dubose led four players in double figure scoring, as they defeated The Lincoln university lions, 83-69 in quarter final action of the 2015 CIAA Tournament.

The Livingstone College Blue Bears got on the scoreboard first, on layup from Eric Dubose, but The Lincoln University would fight back with a free throw from Kyle Allen and a three pointer from Jordan Watson (Philadelphia, PA/Springside Chestnut Hill Academy), to take their first lead of the night at 4-3.

But the Blue Bears were determined early to get the ball inside, and back to back baskets from Eric Mayo and Hakeem Jackson, gave Livingstone the lead at the first media timeout, 7-6.

The team would continue to trade baskets, until Lincoln's Jordan Watson (Philadelphia, PA/Springside Chestnut Hill Academy), would give the lead back to the Lions 14-13 on a three pointer.

But the by second media timeout of the half, the Blue Bears continued to pound the paint with the scoring and had retaken the lead 15-14.

Livingstone led 23-22 with 7:42 to play in the first half, and led by an Eric Dubose three point shot, the Blue Bears would use a 10-1 run to push the lead to double digits, 33-23 with 3:01 left on the clock.

LC would not be finished, as they would continue to pressure The Lincoln into bad possessions, and the Blue Bears would finish he half on a 9-3 run to take a 42-28 lead into the locker room at the break.

Through the first 20 minutes, Livingstone dominated the points in paint, with a 26-10 advantage. The Blue Bears also dominated the bench points with a 23-8 advantage.

The Blue Bears pickup right up where they left off in the first half, and it look like a blowout in the making as Livingstone increased its lead to 19 points by the 14:24 mark, 54-35.

But the Lincoln would use an 11-2 run to cut into the lead, and by the 10:11 mark, had trimmed the lead to just 10, at 56-46 on a Quaman Burton (Richmond, VA/John Marshall HS) layup.

The teams would trade baskets over the next three minutes, before the Lions would shrink the lead down to just eight points at the 6:51 mark, 65-57.

Livingstone would answer right back with a 7-0 run to push the lead back to 15 points, and although Lincoln tried to make it a free throw shooting contest coming down the stretch, the Blue Bears were primed for the task, as they would convert 9 of 11 free throws over the final 2:30 minutes to come awat with the 83-69 win.

The Blue Bears held a significant advantage at the free throw line, where they converted 28 of 43, to only 17 of 27 for the Lions. Livingstone also held a 48-38 rebounding edge.

Livingstone was led in scoring by Eric Dubose, who finished with a game high 20 points, and four assists. Eric Mayo added 14 points and a game high 16 rebounds and three blocked shots, while Ty Newman chipped in 12 points and nine rebounds. Hakeem Jackson also scored 12 points while pulling down seven rebounds, and Daryl Trayham finished with 10 points.

For The Lincoln, Jordan Watson (Philadelphia, PA/Springside Chestnut Hill Academy) scored 14 points, while Quaman Burton (Richmond, VA/John Marshall HS) chipped in 11 points, four assists, and two steals. Kyle Aiken (Randolph, NJ/Randolph HS) also added 11 points, four assists and two steals and Joshua Davis (Saginaw, MI/Louisburg Junior College) finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and four steals.

Livingstone now advances to the CIAA Semi Finals, where they will face the Bowie State Bulldogs. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00pm, and the game can be seen live on the Aspire Television Network.

QUOTES:
Livingstone Coach, James Stinson
"To God be the Glory. This was another opportunity for us to come out and play in the CIAA, and kinda the rust off."

Beginning stages of the game I thought we executed well, but got stagnated midway through the second half. More so due to their defense, and our lack of commitment to continue on doing the things to consistently run our offensive sets."

"You want to make sure that you are 1-0 each game. And today we did that, went 1-0."

"Bowie State has grown a lot since we played them January 1^st. Coach Brooks does a tremendous job with his program."

"When we faced them then, both teams were just getting back from Christmas break and we had some flaws in our execution and some flaws in our commitment to defend."

"In tournament play, you have to defend and take care of the basketball."

"They have the Player of the Year in Cameron Knox, and he does a tremendous job leading their team."


Lincoln Coach, John Hill
"It was a really tough game. It had an unorthodox flow. We had to deal with early foul trouble."

"We were kind of out of rhythm tonight. We played hard and with a lot of passion, but we weren't on our A game tonight. "

"The only thing we can do is to keep pushing and keep fighting, and we'll get it done."

"The foul trouble was a bit to overcome. They have more bodies so it was important not to make it a fast paced game. But when you have foul trouble, you have to play kids who typically don't play a lot of minutes. It throws the chemistry off because you are used to playing certain guys."

"After all that took place, I thought we still had a chance to win."

"Livingstone is a good team. Coming in by no means did we think we would blow them out. They have some really nice post players and great depth. Arguably, they have some of the best post players in the league."

"Before I came here, this program won 16 games in three years. Now Lincoln has won as many games as any team in this league."