Railers escape Mattoon with 51-50 win

[February 02, 2019] 

It was a battle in Mattoon Friday night that had Railer fans holding their breath until the buzzer sounded. In the end Lincoln exhaled and just made it out of town with a 51-50 victory over the Green Wave.

Coming into the contest the Green Wave were riding a 7-game win streak, while the Railers were attempting to protect their perfect 8-0 Apollo Conference record. Coach Neil Alexander’s squad was more than up for the challenge.

The Green Wave opened the game with a three and wow was that ever a sign of things to come. Lincoln’s Kaden Froebe started the Railers scoring with two points on a drive.

In a matter of seconds these two teams were off and running and gunning. Quickly the Green Wave jumped out to a 15-7 lead thanks to five consecutive 3-pointers.

Lincoln was kept in the scoring column by Froebe and a long three from Will Ewald at this point.

Two free throws by Kameron Whiteman and a field goal by Ewald allowed Lincoln to get out of the first quarter only trailing Mattoon 15-11.

Lincoln hit the floor in the second quarter ready for round two and Froebe quickly started the Railers scoring with a nice little floater in the lane.

The Green Wave had an answer with a rare 2-point field goal. In

Lincoln’s next possession it was Whiteman for the three and the Railers were sneaking back into this one, trailing just 17-16.

After a series of possessions where both teams were just hitting misses, it was Ewald coming thru with another three to give the Railers their first lead of the game, 19-17.

It didn’t take long for Mattoon to jump back in the lead with, of course, a three.

It would be Froebe’s baseline drive that reclaimed the Railer lead.

But again, not to be repetitive, but a three from the Green Wave put them back on top, this time 23-21.

Froebe would tie the game at 23-23 after sinking two free throws.

But what do you know, those Green Wave hit from downtown again and just like that in the face of the Railers the 26-23 lead belonged to Mattoon.

A floater by Dylan Singleton closed the gap, 26-25, but then the predictable happened again.

This Mattoon team was riding the wave of sinking threes high in the first half and they had one more left in the tank before halftime.

Just when it looked like the 29-25 score was good for a halftime report, Ewald did what he and so many other Railers have already done this season. A buzzer-beating Ewald three to end the second quarter saw Lincoln down just 29-28 at the half. Lincoln had a real battle on their hands and they knew it.

Whiteman and Froebe combined to start the second half to reclaim that coveted lead. A three from Whiteman put Lincoln back on top and the putback from Froebe off an offensive rebound extended the lead to 33-29. Nice work early by the Railers.

But those Green Wave were really outstanding on their end of the court. A free throw, a 2-point field goal and a rim-rattling three enabled them to put together a 6-0 run and the lead was back in favor of the home team, 35-33. Froebe’s three quickly allowed the Railers to jump back in front 36-35.

The Railers would soon be in the midst of their own 8-0 run that pleased the Railer faithful that had made the trek to Mattoon. Singleton’s field goal and three free throws from Froebe made sure of that. With Lincoln clutching their biggest lead, 41-35, Railer fans had plenty to cheer about but certainly no reason to relax just yet.

Despite a few misses from beyond the arc, the Green Wave managed to hit a couple more threes in the quarter, bringing their total on the night to 13.

A fast break layup from Lincoln’s floor general, Singleton, kept Lincoln on top 43-41 as the third quarter came to a close.

The fourth quarter scoring was not exactly off to a swift start. Maybe both teams were running out of gas at this point. The game was moving at a fast pace, obviously with each team trying hard to outdo each other. It would be Mattoon striking first with a bucket in the lane and making good on the foul shot with under six minutes to play. The Green Wave was back on top 44-43 with that three-point play.

Ewald’s steal and layup tossed it back in favor of the Railers, 45-44. A 15-footer from Whiteman that was nothing but net extended the lead to 47-44.

Enter Dreyden Pozsgai and the junior came up big off the bench with a two to stretch that lead to 49-44.

Mattoon closed that gap to 49-47 just before a nice pass from Froebe found Whiteman under the basket and he nonchalantly tossed it in to give the Railers a 51-47 advantage as the two-minute mark was nearing.

The final two minutes would be the longest of the evening for Railer fans. A Mattoon player came off the bench to hit a three, bringing the Green Wave total to 15 against Lincoln. The score was now similar to that Van Halen album in the 80’s that came out with Sammy Hagar replacing David Lee Roth as the lead singer. Answer to that trivia question? 51-50.

So with less than a minute to play, both teams had lots of opportunities to score, no one did. There was lots of confusion on the court, some fouls were called, some were not. The Green Wave tried to hit a game-winner, whew, they missed. But 1.5 seconds was put back on the clock.

Ewald may have gotten away with a foul, but Singleton did not. He ran over a guy, or did that guy just flop?

Finally the buzzer sounded and the Railers escaped with the 51-50 win. Time to get outta Mattoon.

In the end, it was Lincoln with “The best of both worlds” as the Railers improve to 18-2 and stay a perfect 9-0 atop the Apollo Conference.

Don’t count the Green Wave out down the stretch though. They shot lights out Friday night but it was just wonderful to see Lincoln rise up and earn the win.

Kaden Froebe led Lincoln with 18 points. Will Ewald tossed in 13 points and it was great to see Kameron Whiteman back in double digits with 12 points.

Breathe, folks. The Railers are back at Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium to take on Rock Island tonight. The JV game will begin at 6 p.m. with the Varsity tip-off set for 7:30 p.m.

Speaking of JV, Lincoln’s JV did lose to Mattoon 42-28 in the earlier game. Their record is now 15-2.

Varsity scoring

Lincoln 51

Froebe 18
Ewald 13
Whiteman 12
Singleton 6
Pozsgai 2

Mattoon 50

Princko 17
Spitz 12
Noe 9
Ghere 5
Johnson 3
Compton 3
Bradbury 1

JV scoring

Lincoln 28

Ferguson 8
Tungate 7
Grunder 6
B. Whiteman 3
McCraith 2
Hullinger 2

Mattoon 42

Yardley 11
Compton 7
Thomas 7
Carter-Smith 6
Morton 5
Wright 3
Johnson 2
Polk 1

[Teena Lowery]