Women’s Basketball
Playing consecutive nights of basketball against Montana State University-Billings (17-6 overall, 5-2 Heartland Conference), the top team in the Heartland Conference and ranked No. 5 in the South Central Region, Lincoln University (5-16, 2-4) delivered a pair of upsets.
Feb. 2 the Blue Tigers were victorious 66-62 over the Lady Jackets in Heartland Conference action. A jump shot by Tiffannie Wolfe with 15:47 left in the first half gave Lincoln University a lead they never let go of. The Blue Tigers led by 16 twice in the first half and had a 39-26 halftime edge. Alira Carpenter pulled the Lady Jackets within two-points, 64-62 with 40 seconds to play. Freshman Cherika Ramsey sank a pair of free-throws with 3 seconds remaining to preserve the win for Lincoln University. It was the Blue Tigers first win over the Lady Jackets.
Brezette Elder-Wade led all scorers with 25 points. Michelle Lieber scored 15 to pace the balanced offense of the Lady Jackets.
Jasmine Washington sank a shot with 16:05 to go in the first half to give the Blue Tigers a 10-6 advantage in the Feb. 3 game. The Lady Jackets began to turn the game into a polar opposite of the night before. Using a 14-4 spree, MSU-Billings stormed in front of Lincoln University in a matter of 4:42 to take a 20-14 edge. Other than two ties within 90 seconds of each other, 20-20 (9:07) and 22-22 (7:42), the Lady Jackets owned a lead for most of the first half. Montana State University-Billings went to halftime up 37-32.
Carpenter knocked in a 3-point shot in the opening minute of the second half to push the Lady Jackets lead to 42-32. The Blue Tigers then started to whittle away at their deficit. Ramsey splashed home a 3-pointer with 8:14 remaining that tied the game 59-59. Coming down the stretch Lincoln University could not gain a lead and Montana State University-Billings had trouble extending their advantage. The two teams were tied three times in the final 2:37 the last coming after Elder-Wade converted an old-fashioned three-point play with 16 seconds to go that tied the game 68-68 forcing overtime.
The Blue Tigers outscored the Lady Jackets 7-3 in overtime to earn a 75-71 victory.
Elder-Wade once again set the scoring standard with 25 points. Washington added 17 points and Ramsey tied her career-high of 15 points.
Carpenter scored 20 points for the Lady Jackets and Lieber contributed 17 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
Men’s Basketball
Trying to fight their way out of the cellar and into contention for a Heartland Conference Postseason Tournament berth, the Blue Tigers need to continue to win as many of their Heartland Conference games as possible to keep their playoff hopes alive. Lincoln University (5-14 overall, 2-5 Heartland Conference) kept that flame glowing with a conference victory on Feb. 2 80-71 over Montana State University-Billings (4-17, 3-5).
The win marked the first time since Feb. 5, 2005 that both Blue Tiger basketball teams (women and men) had swept a doubleheader in Jason Gymnasium.
The Blue Tigers trailed for most of the first half. James Edwards rattled in a 3-point shot to push Lincoln University in front 35-31 with 1:40 on the clock. The Yellowjackets outscored the Blue Tigers 6-2 in the last 1:11 of the half to leave the score tied 37-37 at halftime.
MSU-Billings charged out of halftime with a 10-2 surge to lead 47-39 at the 17:39 mark. The Blue Tigers worked the score down with a 19-3 run. Edwards finished a three-point play with a free-throw to tie the game 58-58 with 8:00 left. The senior from Willingboro, N.J. scored 11 of his game-high 22 points in the 5:28 explosion. Upon completing his second three-point play of the game clinching spurt, the Blue Tigers were in control 74-61 with 3:30 to go. The Yellowjackets closed the margin to the final nine points (80-71) with a 10-6 run in the last 2:35 of play.
Edwards led five Blue Tigers who scored in double figures with 25 points. Marcus Warren poured in 14, Brandon Harris 13 and Ralph Mata and Jordan Rush added 11 apiece. Edwards and Rush tied for game-high honors with 8 rebounds. Mata recorded a double-double as he had a career-high 10 assists.
Jeff Miner scored 17 points to lead the Yellowjackets.
After picking up a Heartland Conference win the previous night, the Blue Tigers appeared uninterested in adding to their two-game win streak. Mix elements of play without intensity and a look of general boredom with no outward emotion and a lack of focus and the end result is a loss. The Blue Tigers found out firsthand the result of a team playing at less than their best, a loss and in this instance on Feb. 3, a despicable one-point loss, 68-67.
A back and forth first half, which MSU-B led for 10:42 compared to the 8:36 of Lincoln University ended when the Yellowjackets ran into their locker room at halftime with the momentum. The Yellowjackets rolled to halftime with a 12-5 run in the last 3:00 minutes to lead 37-31. The Blue Tigers never led in the second half. Lincoln University played 2:30 of the final 2:48 within a possession (3-points) of tying the lead. Ammar Harknell missed the front-end of a one-and-one (bonus) free-throw opportunity with :30 seconds left. Marcus Warren grabbed the defensive rebound for Lincoln University. The Blue Tigers called a timeout to design a play with :29 seconds left in the game. Lincoln University got off three shots in the last 13 seconds, two of which were 3-point tries, but none of the shots went through the hoop.
The Blue Tigers performed at a sub-par level from the free-throw line. Lincoln University shot almost 15 percentage points worse than their 70.3 percent season average at the free-throw line. The Blue Tigers lost the game at the line as they had one of their third worst games of the season making only 56 percent (14-of-25) of their free-throw attempts.
In the losing effort, Warren had career-highs in points (18) and rebounds (14). Mata produced 13 points and Edwards 10. Mata had his second double-double of the season as he pulled in a career-high 10 rebounds.
Jonathan Wiley scored 22 points to top all scorers. Troy Ruff tossed in 16 and Cody Samuelson 13.
The Blue Tigers out-rebounded the Yellowjackets 49-31. Montana State University-Billings used 19 Lincoln University turnovers to their advantage. The Yellowjackets outscored the Blue Tigers 19-4 in points off turnovers. MSU-Billings committed only 10 turnovers, a season low for a Lincoln University opponent.
