Jefferson City, Mo. - The 14th-ranked Missouri Southern men's basketball team trailed by as many as 21 in the second half and tied the game at 74, but couldn't complete the comeback and the Lions fell 90-83 at Lincoln today inside Jason Gym.
Southern (11-3, 2-2 MIAA) was led by 27 points from Elyjah Clark as he went 8-of-14 from the field, 3-of-6 from long-range and 8-of-10 from the free throw line. Clark now has 1,145 points in his career, 22 points shy of 13th all-time, while his 240 three's are just 25 from tying Austin Wright for the career record.
Cam Martin scored 21 points and added 11 rebounds for a double-double, while Kinzer Lambert added 14 points and six rebounds.
Lincoln (10-3, 3-1 MIAA) was led by a career day from Terrance Smith as he scored a career-high 35 points and added 14 rebounds. Tez Ivory had 20 points.
Lincoln jumped out to a 14-7 lead at the 15:16 mark of the first half, but a three from Braelon Walker got the Lions within four (18-14) with 11:17 left in the half. The Blue Tigers got hot from there. Lincoln opened up a 27-17 lead after a three from John Burton with 8:22 left in the half, but the Lions answered right back with a layup from Lambert the next trip down.
A layup from Smith with five minutes to go in the half pushed the Lincoln lead to 16 (36-20) and Smith added a dunk the next trip down. Parker Jennings hit a pair of free throws with 2:47 to go to get the Lions within 12 (38-26), but Smith got a three on the Blue Tigers' next possession. A three from Clark with eight seconds to go in the half made the halftime score 47-29, Lincoln.
Southern started the second half on a 6-0 run to make the score 47-35, Lincoln, and a three from Jennings with 14:48 to go made the score 57-43. A scrum for a loose ball, however, resulted in Walker getting a foul called and then two resulting technical fouls with Lincoln getting one on themselves, as well. It gave Lincoln two free throws and the ball and the Blue Tigers increased the lead to 63-43 with just over 14 minutes to go.
A 9-5 run at the middle of the second half had the Lions within 14 (72-58) and a three from Clark cut the led to 11 (72-61) with 8:26 to go in the half. A pair of freebies from Tharp with just under eight to go got the Lions to within single-digits at 72-63, and a three from Martin after a forced turnover got the Lions within six (72-66) with 7:11 to play, capping a 10-0 run for Southern.
After a pair of freebies from Lincoln, Clark hit a big three the next trip down to get within five (74-69) with 6:26 to go, and a free throw from Martin, combined with a layup from Lambert, got the Lions within a bucket (74-72) with 4:43 to go in the game.
A layup from Reggie Tharp after a steal from Lambert tied the game at 74 with 3:48 to go. Lincoln hit a four-point play and went back up 78-74 the next trip down, and another bucket from Lincoln gave the Blue Tigers an 83-78 lead with 1:28 to go in the game. A pair of free throws from Clark with 32 seconds left got the Lions within four (85-81), but that would be as close as they would get.
Lincoln spent much of the second half in foul trouble with five players with four fouls or more for most of the half, but the Blue Tigers were red-hot from the free-throw line when they got there, going 24-28 from the charity stripe.
Southern shot 41 percent from the field and 74 percent from the free throw line in the game. The Lions out rebounded Lincoln 35-33, including a 12-7 advantage on the offensive boards.
The Lions will be back in action on Thursday, January 10 as Southern plays host to Central Missouri at 7:30 pm inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.
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