A huge offensive explosion by the Virginia Union University men's basketball team in the final six minutes of the first half proved too much to overcome as the Panthers dealt Lincoln University an 85-64 setback Saturday afternoon at Manuel Rivero Hall.
 
The Lions fall to 13-13 overall and 6-9 in Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association games.  The Lions' record in North Division games falls to 2-6 with the tam currently in a three-way tie for fourth place.  VUU improves to 16-10 overall, 11-4 in league games and 5-3 in division contests.
 
Josh Page (Washington, D.C./Rock Creek Christian Academy) led the Lions with 13 points (5-8 FG, 2-2 3FG).  Deaquan Williams (Camden, N.J./Camden) added 12 points while Gevon Arrington (Petersburg, Va./Petersburg (Richard Bland)) chipped in ten.  Williams led the team with six rebounds while Page and Tamir Green (Philadelphia, Pa./Constitution) had three assists apiece.
 
Terrell Leach led all scorers with 28 points (10-14 FG, 6-8 3FG) while Eric Bowles chipped in 16 points and had a game-high eight assists.  Will Jenkins added 15 points and 12 rebounds.
 
Neither the Lions nor the Panthers held a lead greater than four points for the first 14 minutes of action, with seven ties and seven lead changes highlighting the closeness of the contest in the early goings.  After the seventh tie, a Maurice Waters (Philadelphia, Pa./Constitution (Univ. District of Columbia)) layup gave the Lions a 27-25 lead with 7:16 remaining before VUU closed out the half with a 17-2 uprising over the final 5:55 to take a 13-point lead 42-29 into the locker room at the break.
 
Lincoln opened the second half with a 9-3 spurt to close the gap to seven, 45-38 following a Zahrion Blue (Princeton, N.J./Princeton) layup at the 16:30 mark.  The Panthers responded with a 13-5 spurt to push their lead to 15, 58-43 and further increased the margin to 21 points 69-48 with 6:57 remaining.   Cameron Campbell (Fayetteville, N.C./Trinity Christian) then ran off five straight points followed by a Jordan Camper (Chester, Pa./Chester) jumper to cut the Panther lead back to 14, 69-55.
 
Fourteen points would be as close as the Lions would get as the Panther increased their lead to as many as 24 points before settling in for the 21-point victory.
 
The men's basketball team returns to action on Wednesday, February 20, 2019 when they host Chowan University at Manuel Rivero Hall.  Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.