Zahrion Blue (Princeton, N.J./Princeton) and Deaquan Williams (Camden, N.J./Camden) each recorded double-doubles as the Lincoln University men's basketball team lost a tough 84-82 decision on the road at Holy Family University in Philadelphia Thursday night.
 
The Lions fall to 1-3 with the loss while the Tigers earn their first win of the young season and improves to 1-2.
 
Blue notched his second consecutive double-double with 20 points and ten rebounds.  He also dished out a game high eight assists.  Williams scored 13 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.  Deonta Dunlap (Baltimore, Md./Milford Mill Academy) continued his solid play off the bench, knocking down seven three-point field goals to finish with a game-high 21 points. Williams led all players with four steals.
 
Five lead changes and three ties highlighted back-and-forth first half which saw the Lions by as many as seven points on three different occasions, all courtesy of three-point goals from Dunlap.  Dunlap's last three-ball of the half gave the Lions a 26-19 lead at the midway point of the period.  The Tigers than ran off eight straight points to regain the lead at 27-26. HFU expanded the margin to five by the end of the half 44-39.
 
A four-point play from LU's Markus Stevenson (Voorhees, N.j./Hillcrest Prep (Ariz.) (Angelina College)) just 3:13 into the second half capped a 12-5 run and gave the Lions a brief two-point lead 51-49.  The Tigers countered with a 19-6 uprising to take their biggest lead of the game at 68-57 with 8:11 left.  Lincoln whittled the lead back down to two with an 18-9 spurt, closing the gap to 77-75 with 3:40 left.  Jordan Camper (Chester, Pa./Chester) had seven of the Lions final nine points during the run.
 
The Tigers then scored five straight points to pull ahead by seven.  Dunlap added the last of his seven three at the 1:28 mark to pull Lincoln within four 82-78.  Blue added a free throw with 46 seconds left to make it a one-possession game at 82-79.  The Tigers added two more free throws in the final seconds and Blue sank a three-ball with three seconds left to pull LU within two but that would be as close as they would come as the Tigers held off the Lion rally to win 84-82.
 
Eric Esposito led the Tigers with 14 points while Devon Moore, Vincenzo Dalessandro, Brendan Hoban and Branden Aughburns added 13 points apiece.
 
The men's basketball team returns to action on Monday, November 16, 2019 with a game at University of the Sciences. Tipoff is at 7:00 p.m.