Lincoln Land – 67
Lewis and Clark Community College – 55
Despite trailing for much of the game and not holding a lead until 6:00 to go, the Lincoln Land Logger men’s basketball team knocked off the Trailblazers of Lewis and Clark Community College 67-55 in MWAC action.
Lewis and Clark came into the contest in last place in the MWAC while the Loggers are in a battle for 2nd-5th in the conference. The Trailblazers looked more the part early on in the Wednesday evening contest. Lewis and Clark’s first 6 buckets were three-point field goals and in fact started 5/8 from the field and lead 15-3 just 4:00 in to the game. After trailing by those 12 points, LLCC called a timeout and began to find their grove. The Loggers chipped away and got back within a point at 21-20 with 5:00 to go in the half. Lewis and Clark responded with a closing run of 12-4 and went in to halftime leading 33-24.
Lewis and Clark scored on their opening possession of the second half and again the Loggers found themselves trailing by double digits. From there, the Logger defensive intensity picked up. The Loggers proceeded to hold the Trailblazers scoreless for the next 8 minutes of game play. The Loggers were only able to capitalize for 9 points during that stretch, but closed the game back to a 2 point, one possession contest. Lincoln Land made sure Lewis and Clark did not have another run in them and kept the game within 4 points. Tied at 44 the Loggers finally got their first lead of the evening on a Nick Cook and-one to put them up until the end. Following the Cook buckets, the Loggers put in 7 straight points and quickly found themselves up 9. The final winner remained in doubt under 2:00 to play when the Loggers held the ball, but held only a slim 56-51 lead. Dane Foster closed the door on the Trailblazers and knocked in a late in the shot clock three pointer to put the Loggers back up 9, essentially sealing the end result. The Loggers in the closing minutes revved up the intensity one more level and made sure Lewis and Clark held no chance at a comeback. The Loggers got three straight steals and three straight buckets at one point and led by a game high 14 with just over :10 to play. Lewis and Clark got one final score to get us to the final buzzer where LLCC was on the right end of the 67-55 final.
Nine Loggers played on the evening, nine Loggers scored. Those nine Loggers also each pulled in at least 1 board. Kyle Leonard got to 15 points, the third game in a row in double digits. Leonard also raised his season total to over 10 points per game. Dane Foster put in 4 three pointers and got to 14 points, while also grabbing 5 boards. Brandenn Robinson was a spark off the bench putting in 13, 11 in the second half. Camren Kincaid, the leading scorer on the season, did not score at his normal rate, but he still put together an impactful game concluding with 6 points, a career high 11 assists, and pulled down 6 boards of his own. The impressive stat of the game was that LLCC shot 14/18 from twos in the second half and 59% from the field to catch LC and pull away.
Lincoln Land improves back over .500 at 11-10. The Loggers are also 5-3 in MWAC play and more important 6-3 in Region 24 play, putting them in sole possession of second place in post-season seeding.
