The Lincoln University football team turned in a strong performance on Saturday against Virginia Union University but finished on the wrong end of the score as they dropped their second consecutive home game, losing to the Panthers 45-23 Saturday night at Lions Stadium.

Lincoln Falls to 0-6 overall and 0-3 (0-1 north division) in Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) games.   Virginia Union improves to 4-2 overall and 3-0 (1-0 north division) in league contests.

Lions quarterback Vincent Espinoza (Madera, Calif./Madera (West Hills)) threw for 204 yards with 19 completions in 31 attempts including one touchdown pass.   Carlos Croslin (Baltimore, Md./Frederick Douglass (Globe Tech) ) produced 161 all-purposes yards including a spectacular 53 yard touchdown run where he reversed from one side of the field to the other to score the touchdown.  Croslin also caught three passes for 40 yards and had kickoff returns of 33 and 35 yards.

Trey McCollum (Burlington, N.C./Western Alamance) caught six passes while Andre Price (Rialto, Calif./Jurupa Hills (Chabot)) added four receptions including a ten yard touchdown in the second quarter.  

The Lions finished with 363 yards of total offense, their highest output of the season.  Lincoln also held possession for nearly 40 minutes of action.

Virginia Union had yards of total offense including 304 on the ground.  Aaron Baker rushed for 137 yards while Panther quarterback Darius Taylor threw for 184 more with eight completions in 14 attempts and three touchdown passes.

Espinoza teamed up with Price to produce the Lions first score of the game, a ten yard pass that completed a ten play- 97 yard drive and gave Lincoln a 7-0 lead.  A fake punt that turned into a 43-yard pass completion by punter Cody Waddell (Elkton, Md./Northeast) to Rob Catchings (Jacobus, Pa./Dallastown Area (Alderson-Broaddus)) setup the touchdown.

The Panthers tied the game in quick fashion needing just 38 seconds for Taylor to hook up with Lavatiae Kelly from 22 yards out for the tying touchdown.

Croslin gave the Lions excellent field position for their next drive with a 35 yard kickoff return.  Three plays into the drive Croslin pulled off his spectacular 53 yard run to give the lions a 14-7 lead. 

Kelly put the Panthers in great field position on their next possession with a 41 yard kickoff return and like the Lions on their scoring drive, needed just three plays to tie the score on a 38-yard pass from Taylor to Chatzo McKenzie.

A pair of Lions turnovers on their next two possessions both led to Panther touchdowns and a 28-14 VUU lead.    Waddell added a 32 yard field goal with 1:12 left in the quarter to close the gap to 28-17 where the score remained until halftime.

Taylor's third touchdown pass of the night, a 15 yard throw to Jewison Dawkins made the score 35-17 late in the third quarter.  Lincoln came right back and scored on their next possession as the fourth quarter began when Rameses Owens (Warrensville Hgts., Ohio/Shaker Heights Robert Morris)) powered into the end zone from four yards out to close the gap to 35-23

The Panthers added a touchdown and a field goal later in the fourth quarter to round out the scoring and provide the final 45-23 margin.

The Lions return to action next weekend as they travel to Elizabeth City State University for another CIAA North Division clash.  Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m.