Dah'mear Triplett (Elkton, Md./Elkton) tied a school record with three touchdown catches as the Lincoln University football team lost at Elizabeth City State University 34-18 Saturday afternoon at Roebuck Stadium in Elizabeth City, North Carolina.
 
Lincoln falls to 0-7 overall and 0-4 in Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) games. ECSU improves to 2-5 overall and 2-2 in league contests.
 
Triplett's three touchdown receptions ties a modern era program record set by Kestor Lewis against JCSU in 2012 and equaled twice by Akeem Jordan (Washington, DC/Carroll HS) against Cheyney in 2013 and 2014.  The freshman receiver finished the game with six catches for 74 yards.
 
Lincoln quarterback Emmett Hunt (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville Area) connected with Triplett for a 13-yard touchdown with 5:11 left in the third quarter, making the score 26-6.  He added his final two touchdown catches late in the game, a 27-yard reception and a five-yard touchdown catch as the Lions outscored the Vikings 12-0 in the fourth quarter. 
 
Hunt completed 11 of 17 passes for 172 yards with three touchdowns while Eban Jackson had four completions in ten attempts for 30 yards.  On the ground, Justin Johnson (Etters, Pa./Red Land) ran for 41 yards while Amir Gerald (Washington, D.C./Woodrow Wilson) added 32.
 
On the defensive side, Devon Cathcart (Chicago, Ill./Thornton Fractional South) led all players with eight tackles while Kyle Wilkins (Dickerson, Md./Poolesville) added six.  The Lions got sacks from Solomon Bassett (Fort Worth, Texas/Boswell), Sadique Moore (Philadelphia, Pa./Mastery Charter) and Vaughn Diggs (Fort Washington, Md./Friendly).
 
ECSU's Kedrick Patterson completed 18 of 27 passes for 343 yards and five touchdowns, three to Dajuan Greene.  Greene finished the game with ten catches for 184 yards.
 
The Vikings struck first on a Patterson-to-Greene touchdown late in the first quarter and added three more scores in the second to jump out to a 26-0 lead at halftime.
 
The Lions opened the third quarter with a long drive drown to the Vikings' five-yard line befoe turning the ball over on downs.  Lincoln's defense stepped up and forced a three-and-out and a poor Vikng punt gave the Lions good field position on the ECSU 37.
 
Johnson carried the ball three times for 24 yards before Hunt connected with Triplett for the first of his three touchdown catches, closing the gap to 26-6.
 
ECSU scored on their next possession to push their lead to 34-6 as the third quarter came to a close.
 
Lincoln opened the fourth quarter with a six-play 75-yard drive culminating with a 27-yard toss from Hunt to Triplett for the score.  Hunt also had a 29 yard rushing play on the drive.  The Lions defense again forced a three-and-out and took over with good field position on the ECSU 40 yard line for their next drive.
 
Hunt found Triplett twice in the early part of the drive as the Lions moved the ball to the ECSU23 yard line.  Gerald added two carries to move the ball to the ECSU six-yard line before Triplett caught his final touchdown pass of the afternoon, making the score 34-18.
 
Lincoln recovered an onside kick following the touchdown but was unable to take advantage of the situation, turning the ball over on downs three plays later which allowed the Vikings to run out the clock.
 
The Lincoln football team will be back in action on Saturday, October 26, 2019 when they host Virginia State University at Lions Stadium.   Kickoff will be at 1 p.m.