Box Score
SALISBURY, NC – Four Blue Bears landed in double-figure scoring Saturday as the Livingstone men's basketball team picked up its first conference victory of the season with an 82-60 victory over the Lincoln Lions.
With the victory, the Blue Bears improved their overall record to 5-3 and their conference mark to 1-1. Lincoln fell to 1-8 overall and 0-2 in the CIAA.
The opening 10 minutes of the first half were a battle. Livingstone jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead, but Lincoln battled back to tie the game at 4-4. The Blue Bears regained a five-point edge, but again the Lions fought back and tied the game at 13-13 with 10:48 left.
Midway through the first half, the Blue Bears went on a tear. Livingstone went on a 13-0 run over 7:13 of the first half to grab 13-point lead with just over three minutes left. After the strong showing, through the second part of the first half, the Blue Bears took a 12-point edge into the break.
As the second half started the Blue Bears looked to put the Lions away early, but Lincoln held strong and stayed close. With the lead at 13 points, the Blue Bears went on a 10-0 run to open up a 23-point lead with 13:19 left. In the middle of that run, the Blue Bears added points from the free-throw line after the Lincoln head coach was hit with two technical fouls and thrown out of the game.
The fire from the Lincoln coach seemed to rub off on the team as the Lions started to peck away at the Livingstone lead. The Blue Bear edge slowly dwindled and the Lions were within nine with 4:30 left in the game. The Blue Bears didn't let the Lincoln run shake them as they returned the favor with a 14-0 run to go up 80-57 and put the game out of reach.
The Blue Bears shot 46 percent from the field on 25-of-54 shooting, but only 23.5 percent from beyond the three-point arc. The free-throw shooting was markedly better, as the Blue Bears hit 71.8 percent of their attempts.
The Blue Bears will head north to Lawrenceville, VA on Monday for a 7:30 p.m. contest against the St. Paul's College Tigers. Livingstone defeated the Tigers 73-69 at home earlier this season in a non-conference affair.
