John Westbrook contributed to this story
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – St. Augustine's Craig McDaniel hit a three pointer with three seconds remaining to defeat Lincoln, 97-94, in a second-round matchup of the CIAA Tournament inside of Bojangles' Coliseum on Tuesday night. With the win, St. Augustine's advances to face the number one seed from the Southern Division Shaw University on Wednesday night.
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The contest featured a furious comeback by Lincoln as they trailed by nine with 53 seconds left to go in the game. The game looked to be over before Gevon Arrington (Petersburg, Va./Petersburg (Richard Bland)) and Zahrion Blue (Princeton, N.J./Princeton) made three-point buckets on consecutive Lincoln possessions to bring the Lions to within four, 92-88, with 23 seconds left. A foul by Tyre Gathright with 19 seconds left and consecutive free throw makes by Zahrion Blue (Princeton, N.J./Princeton) brought Lincoln to within two. Tyre Gathright went 1-for-2 from the free throw line on the next St. Augustine's possession to extend the lead to three, 93-90. With St. Augustine's up three and 12 seconds on the clock, Lincoln's Bernard Lightsey (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) would hit a three from 25 feet to bring the Lions even at 94. However, Craig McDaniel would hit the dagger for the Falcons to propel St. Augustine's to the quarterfinal round.
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St. Augustine's was led by a 30-point effort from Jalen Gaddy. The junior guard shot 9-for-11 from the field including a blistering 8-of-10 from long range. Tyre Gathright notched 19 points, Rashad George with 17 and Craig McDaniel scored 12 to round out the double figure scoring for the Falcons.
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Lincoln was led by 34 points, a game high effort, from Cameron Campbell (Fayetteville, N.C./Trinity Christian). Deaquan Williams (Camden, N.J./Camden) scored 17 and Zahrion Blue (Princeton, N.J./Princeton) notched a 16-point effort to lead the offensive attack for the Lions.
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St. Augustine's jumped out to a six-point advantage, 10-4, over the first six minutes of play following a jumper from Dante Edwards. The Falcons increased that lead to 13, their largest of the first half, following a Tyre Gathright jumper at the 10:10 mark of the first stanza. Lincoln was able to chip away and would trim the Falcon lead to one with 4:43 left in the first on a jumper from Lightsey.
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St. Augustine's responded with a 9-2 run of their own to extend the lead back to eight following a layup from Cameron Campbell (Fayetteville, N.C./Trinity Christian). Again, Lincoln would respond with a 7-0 run of their own to draw back to within one with 48 seconds left in the first half but would give up two late free throws to make it a three-point advantage at the half.
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Both teams shot extremely well during the game including a 54.2 percent mark from the field for St. Augustine's and Lincoln countered with a 53.3 percent effort. The difference was made at the free throw line as St. Augustine's attempted 44 free throw shots and made 32 of those attempts. Lincoln shot just 17-of-28 from the charity stripe.
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