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 It was the Railers' second win over the Rockets this season as
they improved to 16-3 on the season while seeing their conference
mark go to 6-2.
It may be only two games into the five-game tournament schedule for
the Railers, but senior Nathaniel Smith is making an early push for
tournament MVP. Smith matched his 19-point output on Monday by
tallying the same on Wednesday, most on inside plays, whether being
found on cuts to the basket or taking control by driving down the
lane. It was an aggressive style of play that looked good on Smith
and good on the scoreboard.
Lincoln got on the scoreboard first on a nice drive by Jordan
Nelson. Nelson drove the left side of the lane, faked the pass and
got the layup to go down. A Rochester basket in the lane tied the
game at 2-2.
 The Railers went on one of the two big runs they had in the game,
a 9-0 advantage, to go up 11-2. The run featured 3s by Nelson
and Austin Kirby, sandwiching a basket and free throw by Smith.
Rochester was connecting from long range and stayed close early with
a pair from beyond the arc to cut the Lincoln lead to 11-8. Another
basket from Smith gave the Railers a 13-8 lead at the end of one.
Although the Railers were on top, Lincoln appeared to slide back
into bad habits in the area of tracking down loose balls. For most
of the quarter, the Rockets (4-12, 0-7) were the ones getting second
and third chances.
The beginning of the second quarter saw Rochester take the lead
on 3s from Blake Gand and Connor Sturdy. That lead was
short-lived as Smith hit his only 3 of the night near the top of
the key, and the Railers were on top for good at 16-14. Christian
Van Hook extended the lead on one of those shots that doesn't look
good heading to the basket, but after it banks in for 3, well,
you'll take it. Lincoln's first-half scoring ended on a nice post
move from Brant Coyne for his only basket of the night, and the
Railers headed to intermission up 21-16.
The second half had a very sloppy start for the Railers. The first
few possessions for Lincoln ended in turnover after turnover. Bad
passes, teammates running into each other, unforced traveling -- there
was no one way the Railers kept giving Rochester one opportunity
after another. The best Rochester could do was cut the game to
21-20.
 A new wrinkle in the Railer defense started taking its toll and a
Nelson basket started the run that would decide this game. Up 23-20,
Smith took over the game, making a concerted effort to drive to the
basket, force contact and make Rochester stop him, something they
were having difficulty doing. The senior, who has raised his average
to over 13 points a game, scored the final five points in the
quarter to push the Railer lead to 28-20.
Another area Smith was dominating was on the boards, leading the
team with five rebounds. Most of those rebounds resulted in "Smitty"
driving the ball downcourt and either taking it to the basket or
finding an open teammate.
Lincoln's first chance in the fourth quarter came from a Smith
rebound that resulted in a Nelson 3. Smith maneuvered down the
lane and found an open Nelson, who, after one dribble to clear the
defender, sank his 70th 3 of the season.
A Jordan Gesner basket was followed by two more points from
Smith, ending a 14-0 run and putting Lincoln up 35-20.
Smith scored the next four for the Railers, with Nelson adding a
basket late and Kirby hitting a pair of free throws to give the
Railers a 43-27 win. The 43 points matches the output against
Rochester last month. So, Lincoln picks up win No. 16 after
winning by 16, and Smith leads the team with 19 on the 19th. (Sorry,
I like numbers, so I'll take any chance I can to point out the odd
coincidences).
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Along with leading the team in scoring and rebounds, Smith also
created the turnovers that made the difference, leading with five
steals. Rochester was able to score five points off Lincoln's nine
turnovers while the Railers converted 17 Rocket miscues into 19
points. Nelson joined in double figures with 12 points as well as
contributing to his teammates' scoring, dishing out three assists.
Kirby added five, Van Hook scored three, and Gesner and Coyne
chipped in with two each.
Although they did not score, coach Neil Alexander got a lot of
minutes from sophomore Will Podbelsek and freshman Max Cook. Both
players getting more playing time than normal, something the coach did to get a little more emotion from this team.
On their extra time, Alexander said: "We didn't have a lot of hop
out there. We needed to do something." It was during their time on
the floor that Lincoln was able to go on the 14-0 run. You never
know when minutes played in games like this in January will pay off
in March.
Lincoln's next game will be Friday night against Highland, a chance
for the Railers to step out of conference before a morning-evening
doubleheader of Central State Eight play on Saturday. Friday's tip
time is scheduled for 6:30 at Glenwood High School.
 Other Wednesday
night scores: Highland 50, Taylorville 25; and Jacksonville 61,
Glenwood 44.
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LINCOLN (43)
Smith 6-10 6-7 19, Nelson 5-8 0-0 12, Kirby 1-3 2-2 5, Van Hook 1-2
0-0 3, Gesner 1-3 0-0 2, Coyne 1-2 0-0 2, Olson 0-0 0-0 0, Podbelsek
0-1 0-0 0, Cook 0-0 0-0 0. Team 15-29 8-9 43.
3-point field goals
5-14 (Nelson 2-5, Van Hook 1-1, Smith 1-3, Kirby 1-3, Gesner 0-1,
Coyne 0-1).
Rebounds 14 (Smith 5), assists 11 (Nelson, Gesner 3),
steals 9 (Smith 5), turnovers 9.
Rochester (22)
Gand 10, Lunt 5, Grant 4, Yeck 3, Sturdy 3, McMinn 2. Team 10-26 2-2
27.
3-point field goals 5-17 (Gand 2, Yeck, Lunt, Sturdy).
Rebounds
17, assists 7, steals 1, turnovers 17.
Score by quarters:
End of first quarter -- LCHS 13, Rochester 8
Halftime -- LCHS 21, Jacksonville 16
End of third quarter -- LCHS 28, Jacksonville 20
[By JEFF BENJAMIN]
Jeff Benjamin's Railer basketball articles
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