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 “I don’t know what to say about this one,” a frustrated Lincoln
coach Neil Alexander said after the contest. “We could come up with
all kinds of excuses but there are none. It wasn’t just one; it was
everybody. Simply put – they outplayed us.”
On a night where Railer Nation was hoping Lincoln would pick up
their 15th win of the season, which would also be the 600th win for
Alexander as Lincoln coach, they watched Normal West completely
dominate the second half and come away with the two point win.
Statistically, the Railers did the job. They forced West into only 2
of 18 shooting from three, held even on the rebounding, outshot the
Wildcats, etc. You name it, it you looked at the stat sheet, you
would think Lincoln came away with the win. Well, there is one thing
Normal West did have that Lincoln did not and, in the end, that
proved to be the difference.
Normal West had Josh Robinson.
The Wildcat senior scored all of his game high 20 points in the
second half including a game winning three pointer with 3.4 seconds
left. Robinson’s game winner came within seconds of a basket from
Lincoln’s Aron Hopp off an alley oop pass that momentarily gave the
Railers a one point lead. But, during the second half, it was too
much Robinson and not enough ways to stop him.
There have been games like this before where the mistakes are hard
to explain and you are not alone in just shaking your head, trying
to figure out what happened. As in Friday night’s game, the Railers
stormed out to an early lead behind threes from KJ Fry and Garrett
Aeilts. After Fry was fouled shooting a three and stepped to the
line to make all three shots, the Railers had quickly jumped to an
11-2 lead. Lincoln continued to play in control and after baskets
from Isaiah Bowers and Hopp took Lincoln to a 15-6 lead, Hopp
stepped to the line to shoot two technical free throws after West
coach Brian Cupples was assessed a technical foul due to complaints
about a couple of non-foul calls.
A first quarter lead of 17-6 felt as though all the good that
happened in the second half Friday night carried over to the
non-conference matchup. Fry continued the Railer hot start with his
second three of the night to build the lead to 20-6. After Kyler
Stork broke the Wildcat drought, Lincoln got a 17-footer from Hopp
who then flipped a no look pass to Ben Grunder for his first points
of the night. Grunder scored again later in the quarter to extend
the Lincoln lead to 26-10 and things were looking real good.
Normal West found whatever was missing in the latter stages of the
second quarter scoring six in a row to pull within ten at 26-16.
Hopp was able to stretch the margin to twelve at halftime with his
score. “Up twelve at halftime, I don’t know if they thought the game
was over or what,” Alexander said. “I do know they forgot about the
eight minutes of the game that was the third quarter.”
The third quarter is when Josh Robinson must have stepped into the
phone booth and came out as Superman. And he led his Wildcats with
him. In outscoring the Railers 15-2 in the quarter, West looked like
a different team, as did the Railers. While West (13-12) seemed to
be going in top gear, Lincoln seemed stuck in neutral. Robinson took
the ball and made a point to get to the basket. As my broadcast
partner Josh Komnick pointed out, every time Robinson drove, he did
so to his left. Not once did he go to his right and not once did the
Railers pick up on that. The other key problem for the Railers was
foul trouble as Bowers picked up his fourth foul with 4:20 left in
the third, forcing the sophomore to the bench.
Down 30-25, Robinson drove the lane and scored on a scoop shot only
to steal the inbounds pass and make a lay-in to cut their deficit to
just one at 30-29. The comeback became complete when Nate Beal
scored with 2:15 left in the third and West held their first lead of
the night at 31-30. Both teams struggled the rest of the way and the
fourth started with Lincoln trailing by one.
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If the game had been close throughout, the fourth quarter would have
been a culmination of a great game. Instead, there was still that
gnawing feeling of how we got to this point. Bowers hit two free
throws to grab the lead back, but Richard Simpkins 12 foot jumper
gave the lead right back to West at 33-32. After a few empty
possessions for each team, Grunder kept an offensive rebound alive
enough to work the ball out to an open Bryson Kirby who connected
for a three to put Lincoln up by a pair. But, again, Normal West
answered back as Robinson hit the first three of the night for the
Wildcats as the lead swung back to the visitors, now up 36-35.
Hopp found an open Grunder underneath for a lay-in and then was
fouled and, after hitting both free throws, put the home team up
39-36. After a score brought West back within one, Bowers missed the
front end of a one and bonus and it was Robinson again putting the
Wildcats up 40-39. A 13-footer from Hopp flipped the advantage to
Lincoln.
A lot happened with 48 seconds remaining. After a miss from West,
the fight for the rebound landed near the baseline. From our
broadcast position, it appeared one of the West players was fighting
for the rebound with one foot clearly out of bounds. Moments later,
the whistle blew, but it was not a violation, it was a foul call on
a push by Bowers, his fifth and final foul of the game. Simpkins
stepped to the line to hit both free throws putting West up 42-41.
As Lincoln set up, they decided to go for an old reliable play. With
less than ten seconds to go, the alley oop pass was thrown to a wide
open Hopp, whose lay-in off the glass put the Railers up 43-42. But,
as had been commonplace all half, Robinson stormed down court with
the ball, pulled up from the top of the key, and drilled a three to
take the lead back at 45-43 with 3.4 seconds remaining.
The Railers had one final attempt but as the inbounds pass found
Hopp, he was met by a double team near half court, the ball slipping
out of his hands, never getting the final shot to the basket. Normal
West has had a penchant for coming in to Roy S. Anderson and leaving
with improbable wins. This one may fit that bill.
Hopp led the way with 16 points, with Fry adding nine. Bowers,
limited due to foul trouble, and Grunder each scored six. Aeilts and
Kirby each had a three on the night.
A very busy road week begins for the Railers on Tuesday as they
travel to Lober-Nika Gymnasium and a date with Springfield Lanphier.
The Railers gave the Lions everything they could ask for on January
8, falling 48-45 at home. That game starts a three game road trip
with games also Friday in Decatur and Saturday in Joliet. Let’s hope
Lincoln can find a way to do what Coach Alexander has been asking
all year.
“32 minutes. You can’t win if you don’t play 32 minutes.”
LINCOLN (43)
Hopp 6 4-5 16, Fry 2 3-3 9, Grunder 3 0-0 6, Bowers 2 2-3 6, Aeilts
1 0-0 3, Kirby 1 0-0 3, Hullinger 0 0-0 0. TEAM 15 9-11 43. 3pt FG 4
(Fry 2, Aeilts, Kirby).
NORMAL WEST (45)
Robinson 20, Stork 10, Simpkins 8, Ruffin 2, Beal 2, Huber 2,
O’Brien 1. TEAM 15 13-16 45. 3pt FG 2 (Robinson 2).
LCHS 17-11-2-13 43
NORMAL WEST 6-10-15-14 45
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