Missouri Southern gets runaway win vs. Lincoln men

It was a story the Lincoln men's basketball team had already seen before this season. But this time, Missouri Southern made sure it had a more favorable ending.

The Lions jumped out to an early double-digit lead Saturday, and this time, they kept it a runaway, completing a season sweep against the Blue Tigers with a 92-70 win at Jason Gym in MIAA play.

"That's the second time those guys jumped out to a big lead on us," said Lincoln coach John Moseley, whose team trailed 15-3 just more than six minutes in.

"We exerted so much energy trying to come back. I have to credit those guys, I thought they defended us really well, especially in the first half."

In last month's 80-76 win, Missouri Southern led by double digits less than two minutes into the game, but Lincoln rallied in the second half to make it a close finish.

This time, it wouldn't be close in the second half Saturday.

Maurice Mason made a 3-pointer in the opening minute, but the Blue Tigers would then go without scoring for the next 6:01.

Lincoln was held to 32 percent shooting in the first half.

"Sometimes you miss good shots, and that happens in the flow of the game," Moseley said. "But what you don't want is your guys to be taking bad shots. Their defense did a good job of forcing us into too many of those."

Terrance Smith's turnaround jumper started a 6-0 run that pulled Lincoln within six points at 15-9, but that's as close as the Blue Tigers would get the rest of the way.

A 3-pointer by CJ Carr extended Missouri Southern's lead back to double digits, where it would stay for almost the rest of the first half. The Lions entered intermission with a 41-27 lead.

Lincoln committed 11 of its 15 turnovers in the first half. What frustrated Moseley even more was the Lions scored 24 points off those miscues, while the Blue Tigers had no points off turnovers.

"We don't have the luxury of turning the basketball over," Moseley said. "When you do that 11 times, and your goal for the game is 12, you back yourself into a difficult corner."

Smith made a 3-pointer to open the second half and Calvin Chambers grabbed a steal and went coast-to-coast for a layup, trimming the Blue Tigers' deficit to 41-32.

However, Lincoln missed its next six shots and committed a pair of turnovers, while Missouri Southern went on a 10-0 run to push its lead to 19.

"Terrance hit a big 3 to start us in the half, and I thought we'd get a flow," Moseley said. "We missed a couple shots that were better shots than we were getting in the first half, but we weren't able to knock them in.

"That kind of broke our spirit."

Missouri Southern also benefited from a few friendly rolls. Braelon Walker shot a pair of 3-pointers that took high bounces off the front of the rim and dropped in during the second half. The second make gave the Lions an 83-59 lead with 2:32 to play.

"You kind of hope those rolls are reserved for the home team," Moseley said.

Walker was one of six players to score in double figures for Missouri Southern (11-6, 6-2 MIAA), scoring 16 points. Carr and Enis Memic each added 15 points, while Kinzer Lambert was one rebound shy of a double-double with 13 points.

The Lions also shot 20-of-23 from the free-throw line.

"There was a 14-point difference at the free-throw line," Moseley said. Lincoln shot 6-of-10 at the charity stripe.

Smith and Mason each scored a team-high 14 points for the Blue Tigers, while John Burton and Amariontez Ivory each finished with 12 points. Burton scored 10 of his points in the game's final four minutes.

Lincoln (8-9, 2-6 MIAA) plays Thursday at Central Missouri. Last season, the Blue Tigers defeated the Mules 70-63 in Warrensburg to snap Central Missouri's 18-game win streak against Lincoln.