A dominant effort by the young Lincoln University football team fell just short as Johnson C. Smith University escaped with a 26-19 win Saturday afternoon at Irwin Belk Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The Lions fall to 0-5 overall and 0-2 in Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association games.  JCSU improves to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in league play.

Lincoln racked up over 100 more yards of total offense then the host Golden Bulls (433-304) produced more first downs (22-17) and held the advantage in possession time.  The Golden Bulls however produced two fourth scores to erase the Lions 19-14 lead at the end of three quarters and held off the Lions in their final drive to bring home the win.

The Lions passing game was stellar as Emmett Hunt (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville Area) became the fifth quarterback in program history to throw for over 300 yards in a game, tossing 18 completions in 34 attempts for 329 yards and three touchdowns.  Hunter Terrell (Washington, D.C./H.D. Woodson) caught six passes for 150 yards and had an 81-yard touchdown catch in the early moments of the third quarter.  The 81-yard reception is the second longest in school history behind an 82-yard catch by Trey Thomas (Canton, GA/Woodstock) in 2009.
Hunt also threw touchdown passes to Justin Johnson (Etters, Pa./Red Land) in the first quarter and Ricardo Patterson (Willingboro, N.J./Willingboro) in the third.

Senior defensive lineman Solomon Bassett (Fort Worth, Texas/Boswell) also etched his name back in the LU record books, tying a school record when he blocked both extra-point attempts by the Golden Bulls in the fourth quarter.  The two blocks also moved him past teammate Keenan Reid (Somerset, N.J./Franklin High) as the Lions' all-time leader in blocked kicks.

JCSU jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead on a 52-yard punt return by Braxton Gambrell just three minutes into the game.  The Lions tied the score at 7-7 following Hunt's 12-yard toss to Johnson for the score.

A scoreless second quarter left the two teams deadlocked at 7-7 at halftime.  Hunt and Terrell quickly broke the tie in the early moments of the third quarter when on the first play of Lincoln's first drive of the second half, Hunt tossed an 81-yard bomb to Terrell that put the lions ahead 13-7.  JCSU scored with 5:0p0 left in the third to take a 14-13 lead but the undaunted Lions roared right back as the Lions produced a six-play 76-yard drive culminating with a 16 yard pass from Hunt to Patterson, giving the Lions a 19-14 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

JCSU's Malik Evans scored on a quarterback keeper from seven yards out just 90 seconds into the fourth quarter to give The Golden Bulls a 20-19 lead.  Less than two minutes later, Emmanuel Wilson broke free for a 36 yard run to push the lead to 26-19.

The Golden Bulls came up with two key interceptions on the next two Lincoln drives cutting them short with interceptions.   The Lions began their final drive with just 3:09 left and drove all the way down to the Golden Bull's 11-yard line where the drive stalled.  Hunt threw incomplete on four straight plays and the Golden Bulls were able to run out the clock.

The lions return home for their Homecoming game on Saturday, October 12, 2019 against Virginia Union University.  Kickoff is at 1:00 p.m.