Box Score The Lincoln University men's basketball team nearly came back from a 23-point second half deficit before falling to the first place Virginia State University Trojans 72-67 Saturday afternoon in Ettrick, Virginia.
The Lions fall to 6-14 overall and 5-6 in Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association games. The Trojans of Virginia State improve to 17-3 overall and 9-1 in league play.
Khayyir Laws (Chester, Pa./Delaware County Community College) scored all of his career-high 21 points in the second half to lead all scorers. Laws went 16-17 from the free throw line in the game.
Joshua Davis (Saginaw, MI/Louisburg Junior College) added 14 points.
Umar Saaba (Philadelphia, Pa./Boys Latin HS) led the team with five rebounds.
James Richardson (Jersey City, N.J./Raritan Valley Community College) and
Blair Davis (Baltimore Md./Baltimore City College HS) had three assists apiece.
Elijah Moore and Brice Rowe led four VSU players in double figures with 18 points apiece. Richard Granberry had a double-double with 12 point and ten rebounds. Walter Williams added ten points and four assists
Lincoln trailed by as many as 23-points in the second half and were down 51-29 with 11:28 left when the team started their comeback with a 19-2 uprising, fueled primarily by Laws who had 11 of the 19 points in the run, including a four-point play. After the Lions closed within five, 53-48, the Trojans pushed the margin back up to double figures with six straight points to lead 59-48 with 5:11 left. VSU still led by ten 63-53 with 2:06 left when the Lions made another run, this one a 12-5 flourish to close within three 68-65 with 29 seconds left. VSU was a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line in the final seconds to seal the five point wire-to-wire win.
VSU used a 16-4 run in the early part of the game to take control of play and produce a double digit lead 18-6 at the midway point of the half. Lincoln still trailed by 11 when the Trojans used a 9-3 flourish to take their biggest lead of the half at 30-13. Josh Davis' layup in the final minute brought the Lions within 15 at the half 32-17. The Trojans dominated the boards in the first half, scoring 16 second chance points while outrebounding the Lions 27-12, which included an 11-0 advantage on the offensive glass.
Lincoln finished the game shooting 41.3% (19-46) from the field while the Trojans had an almost identical percentage at 41.2% (21-51). VSU finished the game outrebounding the Lions 39-28 and outscored LU 18-6 in the second chance points category. A total of 52 fouls were called in the game with 69 free throws shot (26-35 for LU, 24-34 for VSU). Both teams committed 13 turnovers.
The Lions will return to action on Monday, Jan 30, 2017 when they travel up the road to face area rival Cheyney University in the "Battle of the Firsts". Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m.
