Joshua Davis (Saginaw, MI/Louisburg Junior College) recorded his first double-double of the season as the Lincoln University men's basketball team's comeback fell short, losing a hard-fought contest to Bloomsburg University, 87-81 Tuesday night at Nelson Field house in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania.
The Lions fall to 0-3 on the season while the Huskies improve to 2-0.
Making his first start of the young season, Davis connected on seven of 17 shots from the field and was 6-7 from the free throw line en route to his team-high 20 points. He also pulled down 12 rebounds, notching his first double-double of the season and the fifth of his career.
Sean James (Newark, Del./Iona College) and
Vernon Young (Chicago, Ill./University of St. Mary) joined Davis in reaching double figures, with James coming off the bench to score 15 points (5-9 FG, 4-7 3FG) and Young adding 14 points (6-10 FG). Young also added three assists and two blocks.
Christian Mortellite led five Huskie players in double figures with 25 points (9-16 FG). Malik Sneed had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Additional scoring support came from Karonn Davis (15), Carnell McGirt (14) and Kyle-Michael Rose (11).
An early 7-4 Lions lead was erased with a 12-2 run by the Huskies who grabbed a seven-point advantage 16-9. Lincoln stayed close and retook the lead, 24-20 with a 12-4 run, capped with consecutive three-pointers by
Khayyir Laws (Chester, Pa./Delaware County Community College) and James. A traditional three-point play from Sneed shifted the lead back to the Huskies at 26-24 at the 8:46 mark. James' 'trey' tied the game again at 27-27 before the Huskies pulled away to lead 44-37 at the break.
Bloomsburg continued to build on their lead as the second half went on, taking their biggest lead 61-46 with 13:41 remaining. Lincoln still trailed by 15, 64-49 with 11:53 left when they began to chip away at the big lead. A triple from Tracy Nelson and a layups from Davis and James closed the gap to eight 64-56. A Karonn Davis basket by BU pushed the lead back to ten 66-56 before the Lions ran off eight straight points to cut the lead to two 66-64 with 8:19 left. Three-pointers from James and
Malachi Seney (Philadelphia, Pa./Harford Community College) highlighted the 8-0 run. A layup-and-one from Davis pulled Lincoln within one 68-67 with 6:51 left. BU then went on a 12-5 run to push their lead back to eight 80-72 with 2:51 left. BU was still up seven 83-76 with 1:03 left when the Lions made one final push, getting a three-pointer from
Jordan Watson (Philadelphia, Pa./Springside Chestnut Hill Academy) with 41 seconds left and a basket from Seney with 13 second left to close within two 83-81. The Huskies went 4-4 from the line in the final 12 seconds though to seal the win.
The Lions shot an impressive 51.9% from three point range, connecting on 14 of 27 attempts. Overall, Lincoln shot 44.6% (29-65) from the field while BU was slightly better at 47.5% (29-61). The Huskies big advantage came at the foul line where they connected on 24 of 35 shots (68.5%) while the Lions made just 9-of-11 (81.8%). BU held the advantage on the glass (44-33) and committed three fewer turnovers (9-12). Both teams turned in solid assist/turnover ratios (LU- 15/12; BU-17/9).
The Lions return to action on Saturday when the y travel to Caldwell University to face the Cougars in a cross-region contest. Tip-off is 1:00 p.m.
