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 However, the 34 that will be remembered most
will be the number of points scored by Southeast senior Michael
Chandler as he and his teammates upset conference-favorite and
state-ranked Lincoln 67-55.
It was a game that Southeast seemed in control
of from the opening tip up to the final buzzer. Southeast, a team
that finished fourth at Collinsville and a team Alexander said
"found out who they are at Collinsville," appeared to be the more
poised and prepared team, while the Railers (11-2, 3-1) played flat
and without any sense of urgency.
"They outplayed us in every phase of the game," Alexander said. "They
were the better team tonight, they were the most prepared, and they
did everything right."
Coming into Tuesday night, the stage was set
for the Railers to build momentum on their championship at
Collinsville. However, nothing went Lincoln's way. Shots that
fell at Collinsville were going in and out or spinning off. "We haven't
practiced well for a few days, and I tell them if you don't practice
well today, you won't play well on game night," a disappointed Alexander explained.
After trading baskets to open the scoring, the
Spartans (5-7, 2-2) went on a 9-0 run to get out to an 11-2
lead. Most of that was the inside play of Chandler. The 6-foot-4
senior hit on 15 of 17 shots on the night, most from in the lane and
barely contested.
"He just stood there, he didn't even flash,"
Alexander said. "If we're not going to play defense and not shoot
well, that's a bad combination." Southeast was able to stretch to a
double-digit lead at 14-4, but Lincoln pulled closer by scoring the
final four of the quarter to trail 14-8 at the end of the first.
Again, the second quarter inside belonged to
Chandler. Another nine gave him 18 at the half and helped Southeast
to a seven-point halftime advantage at 28-21. The margin ranged from
five to 11 during the quarter, but seemingly every time the Railers tried to make a run, the ball went inside to Chandler and
another easy two for the Spartans.
Shooting was key in the half as the Spartans
hit on 60 percent, while the Railers connected on only 38 percent,
including just 1 of 9 from 3-point range. The 28 points
marked the most Lincoln had allowed in the first half this season
and was only the second time trailing at the half (the other time to
Centennial at Thanksgiving).
The third quarter was more of the same for
Southeast, only now they added in spreading the offense to run the
clock down. The Spartans showed a great deal of discipline and
patience for much of the quarter as well as scoring the first five
points to move out to a 33-21 lead. Every time Lincoln would force a
turnover, they would come down and take a good shot that rolled out,
turn it back over, or take a quick shot that didn't come within the
flow of the offense.
The teams traded baskets to get the score to
38-28 near the end of the third quarter. This was the only time of
the game it felt as though Lincoln was going to make a push to get
closer.
Jordan Nelson's layup, and later free throw,
brought the Railers to within 38-31 at the end of the third.
Senior Ben Brackney took over to start the
fourth, scoring two quick baskets to bring Lincoln within one
possession at 38-35. An inside basket from Southeast's Chandler
pushed the game back to 40-35, but Brackney connected for his first
3 of the game and the Railers were down just 40-38.
After a Spartan basket and two free throws from
Nathaniel Smith, Lincoln was as close as they would get for the rest
of the game at 42-40. Southeast went on an 18-7 run to put the game
out of reach at 60-47.
The Spartans made their free throws when they
needed and, when they missed, Chandler was there to clean up and get
the easy scores.
Lincoln got to within 63-55 with under a minute
to go, but it was too much Southeast and not enough time as the
Railers dropped a conference game at home by 12.
The high this team felt after winning the
Collinsville tournament was quickly wiped away with Tuesday night's
performance. The shooting that took them to the title abandoned
them, hitting only 37 percent while the defense allowed Southeast to
hit at a 62 percent clip for the game.
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This from a team that did not take one 3-point shot in the second half and most of their points coming from
inside the lane. An indication of how off the shooting was saw
Nelson fail to hit a 3 for the first time in 39 games.
The Railers were led in scoring by Brackney's 24 points, with Nelson adding 13 and Smith scoring 11. Brant Coyne added six, while Cameron Turner
connected on a second-quarter 3.
How will the Railers bounce back? We'll find
out quickly as they take to the road for two games this weekend, at
Lanphier on Friday night and at Centralia the following evening.
Any predictions? Coach Alexander had a
warning. "If we play defense like this those two games, we could
easily go 0 and 3 this week." Something I'm sure no one --
player, fan, coach -- wants to have happen.
The first look at the pride of this team will
be on display Friday night when, ironically enough, they will be
tested against a group of Lions from Lanphier. My feeling is this
team will be ready.
As always, you can read all about the Railer
season here at www.lincolndailynews.com.
Other CS8 scores: Lanphier defeats Glenwood
66-46, while Taylorville falls again, this time to SHG
60-44. Through four games, the CS8 standings look this
way: Springfield 4-0, Lincoln 3-1, Lanphier 3-1, Southeast 2-2,
Jacksonville 2-2, SHG 1-3, Glenwood 1-3, Taylorville 0-4.
___
LINCOLN (55)
Brackney 9-15 3-4 24, Nelson 4-15 5-6 13, Smith
2-8 6-7 11, Coyne 0-3 4-4 4, Turner 1-1 0-0 3, Kirby 0-1 0-0 0,
Cosby 0-0 0-0 0. Team 16-43 18-21 55. 3-point field goals 5-22 (Brackney
3-8, Turner 1-1, Smith 1-3, Nelson 0-9, Kirby 0-1). Rebounds 16 (Brackney
6), assists 4 (Coyne 2), steals 5 (Brackney 2), turnovers 10.
Southeast (67)
Chandler 15-17 4-4 34, Jc. Anderson 2-7 8-12
13, Kincaid 3-4 3-4 9, Smith 2-5 2-5 6, Gardner 1-2 3-4 5, Jg.
Anderson 0-0 0-0 0, Senor 0-2 0-0 0, Akuoko 0-0 0-0 0. Team 23-37
20-29 67. 3-point field goals 1-7 (Jc. Anderson 1-3, Gardner 0-1,
Smith 0-1, Senor 0-2). Rebounds 32 (Chandler 12), assists 5
(Chandler 2), steals 8 (3 tied with 2), turnovers 15.
Southeast 14-14-10-29
Lincoln 8-13-10-24
Other notes:
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Although he did not hit a
3 for the first
time in 39 games, Jordan Nelson's double-figure streak continues at
16 in a row. The last time Nelson did not connect from long range
was Dec. 19, 2008, against Glenwood.
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Nathaniel Smith extends his double-figure
streak to a career-high seven in a row.
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Ben Brackney's 24 points pushes him past 900
(906) for his career.
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Jordan Nelson's five free throws made gives
him a season-high (48). He made 47 from the line during his
freshman season.
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Lincoln is now 0-2 when trailing at the
half. It is also the first loss this season with three players in
double figures.
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For the second time in the last three games,
the Railers allowed 67 points. The 67 points allowed ties a season
high. Lincoln gave up 67 in the win over Belleville Althoff at
Collinsville.
[Special report by JEFF BENJAMIN]
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