Sean James (Newark, Del./Christiana (Iona)) exploded for a career high 31 points and tied a school record for three-point field goals as the Lincoln University men's basketball team defeated Johnson C. Smith University 96-89 Thursday night at Brayboy Gym in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The Lions improve to 6-5 with the win and 1-0 in CIAA games. The Golden Bulls fall to 7-3 overall and 0-1 in league play.

James came off the bench to provide the spark for the Lions, hitting nine three point field goals to tie Dante Blanton-Holcom's division II era school record set back in 2008.  James shot 9-17 from three point range and 11 of 19 overall en route to his career high 31 points.

Elijah Bush (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore (Essex County CC)) also had a hot shooting hand, making eight of nine shots from the field (2-2 3FG) to score a career-high 20 points.  Gevon Arrington (Petersburg, Va./Petersburg (Richard Bland)) added 17 points and four assists.  Cameron Campbell (Fayetteville, N.C./Trinity Christian ) and joseph Gouty led the team with six assists apiece.   Umar Saaba (Philadelphia, Pa./Boy's Latin) narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and a game-high nine rebounds.

Robert Davis led four Golden Bulls in double figures with 29 points.  Christian Kirchman added 23.  Arthur Bennett and Cayse Minor chipped in 15 and 11 points respectively.

Lincoln jumped out to an early seven point lead but a 21-6 uprising from the Golden Bulls reversed the deficit and gave JCSU an eight point lead at 25-17 at the 10:45 mark and force a quick timeout.  Following the timeout the Lions roared backed with a 15-3 flourish sparked by three long balls from James and a fourth basket from within the arc.  Bush started the run with a dunk and completed it with a layup at the 5:46 mark, giving the Lions a 32-28 lead.

The Golden Bulls scored five straight following the run to retake the lead briefly at 33-32 before the Lions closed out the half with a 14-7 spurt to lead at the break 46-40.

The second half was one of streaks; the golden Bulls would charge back coming within one or two points of retaking the lead and then the Lions would roar back pushing their lead up to double digits. It was one such Lincoln run that saw the shot of the game. 

A loose ball gave the Lions possession 92 feet away with just five seconds on the shot clock.  The inbounds pass came to Campbell who quickly dribbled up to half court and launched a shot that banked in dead center as the shot clock was going off.  Campbell's long range bomb capped an 11-0 run and gave the Lions a 79-67 lead with 6:44 remaining.  Campbell's three-ball was also the team's 15^th of the game, breaking the school record of 14 achieved four times, the last against Bloomsburg University  last season.

A three-pointer from Arrington, the team's 16^th and final basket from deep, gave the Lions an  86-76 lead with 3:47 left.  The golden Bulls had one more charge in them, scoring five of the next six points to close within five at 87-82 with 1:56 left but that would be as close as they would come the rest of the way.

Both teams shot better than 50% from the field with the Lions connecting on 31 of 57 shots (54.4%) and the Golden Bulls 30 of 59 (50.8%).  The difference was the Lions accuracy from deep, making 16 of 30 three point shots (53.3%) while JCSU made just 7 of 19 (36.8%).  Both teams had exactly 32 rebounds and 17 turnovers.  Lincoln's bench outscored the Golden Bulls bench 44-3.

The men's basketball team returns to action on Saturday, December 16, 2107 when they play Winston-Salem State University in the second game of their three game southern swing.  Tipoff is at 4:00 p.m.