Final Stats
LINCOLN, PA – The Livingstone men's basketball team took a tough loss Saturday night, falling 70-67 to the Lincoln University Lions.
The Blue Bears and Lions battled for the full 40 minutes with Livingstone having to overcome multiple deficits and holding a lead only as much as one point.
Livingstone fell behind early in the first half, trailing 8-1 in the first five minutes. Livingstone responded with back-to-back three-pointers from Greg Henry to get within 8-7. Lincoln followed closely with a 9-0 run of their own to take a 17-7 lead with 12:39 remaining.
The largest deficit for the Blue Bears came with 7:13 left in the first half as the Lions opened a 28-16 lead. Livingstone turned the tables on the Lions, going on an 8-0 run to get within 28-24 with 3:26 on the clock. The Blue Bears were able to stay within three points at the break, 36-33.
In the second half, the Lions continued to lead, but the Blue Bears stayed close. Livingstone was able to take its first lead of the contest with 11:22 remaining as Omar Ford-Bey knocked down a three-pointer to give Livingstone a 49-48 edge. The Blue Bears again led 51-50, but then didn't see another lead.
In the final minute, Tyler Johnson put back a layup with 58 seconds left to tie the game, but Lincoln hit a clutch three-pointer, one of their eight on the night with 28 seconds left to go up 68-65. On the ensuing Blue Bear possession, Greg Henry missed a three, but Trone Jackson grabbed the rebound and hit a layup with seven seconds left. After a Livingstone timeout, Lincoln hit two free-throws to go back up three and a last-second three-pointer by Trone Jackson came up short as the Blue Bears fell 70-67.
Greg Henry and Nasir Austin led three Blue Bears in double figures with 16 points each while Henry also pulled down seven rebounds. Tyler Johnson added 10 points and a team-high eight boards.
The Blue Bears shot 46 percent from the field for the game including 33.3 percent from beyond the three-point arc. Free throws were again a struggle for Livingstone as the Blue Bears converted only 54.8 percent of their attempts from the charity stripe.
Livingstone will return to action on Thursday, January 12 at 7:30 p.m. when they take on the Trojans of Virginia State University in Ettrick, VA.
