The Lincoln University men's basketball team won their fourth consecutive game and notched the win for the sixth time in seven games, holding off a huge rally by Livingstone College before pulling away for the 76-67 win Monday night at Manuel Rivero Hall.
The Lions improve to 8-4 overall and 3-0 in Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association games. Livingstone drops to 6-4 overall and 0-2 in league play. Lincoln's 3-0 start in CIAA games is their best since they started the 2014-15 season 3-0.
Cameron Campbell (Fayetteville, N.C./Trinity Christian) was practically unstoppable on the night, connecting on 8-of-14 shots from the field, including 7-of-11 from three point ranges as he scored a game-high 25 points. Campbell also grabbed nine rebounds.
Deaquan Williams (Camden, N.J./Camden) notched his fifth double-double of the season with 12 points and ten boards while
Tamir Green (Philadelphia, Pa./Constitution) added 12 points and dished out seven assists.
Roger ray led the Blue Bears with 23 points. Lydell Elmore added 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds while Malik Smith came off the bench to score 11 points.
With the score knotted at 32-32 at the half, the Blue Bears scored the first six points of the second half to take their biggest lead of the game at 38-32 at the 16:41 mark. A little over four minutes later, Livingstone still led by five, 46-41 at the 12:15 mark when the Lions exploded with a 23-1 tear to take a 17-point lead 64-47 with just under five minutes remaining. Campbell and Green each had eight points and a pair of three-balls during the run.
The Blue Bears started to turn up the pressure forcing five turnovers over the next 2:20 and scoring 14 straight points to cut the Lions lead to three 64-61 with 2:21 left in the game. Green's two free throws put Lincoln back up by five before a three-ball from LC's Martel Handley cut the lead to two at 66-64 with 1:27 left. The Lions then made three straight defensive stops and added points to their lead each time, pushing the margin back up to eight 72-64 with 27 seconds left. Another Handley three-ball made it 72-67 but the Lions closed it out with a dunk from Williams and two free throws from Campbell to seal the win.
For the game, the Lions shot 38.7% (24-62) from the field, 48.1% (13-27) from three point range and 62.5% (15-24) from the free throw line. Livingstone shot 35.6% (21-59) from the field, 30% (3-10) from three point range and 73.3% (22-30) from the foul line. The Lions outrebounded the Blue Bears 47-37,. Lincoln committed one more turnover than Livingstone (17-16) and both teams had four steals and four blocks on the night.
Lincoln will close out their homestand with a game on Wednesday against Claflin University at Manuel Rivero Hall. Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m.
