Railers crush Mount Zion 70-27
Hullinger does it all and pours in 17 points

[February 12, 2020] 

It wasn't much of a contest from the start Tuesday night at Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium as the Lincoln Railers crushed the Mount Zion Braves 70-27.

Mount Zion controlled the tip, but the Railers defense quickly swiped the ball and scored first. That play started an avalanche of points for Lincoln.

After Kameron Whiteman and Will Ewald hit consecutive corner threes, Lincoln had a 12-0 lead over the Braves.

Mount Zion's Mekhi Adams would hit a free throw with 4:34 on the clock to put the Braves on the board, but it didn't take long for Lincoln to gain control again.

Dylan Singleton hit back-to-back jumpers for Lincoln, one just beyond the lane and another one in the paint, and the Railers lead was 16-1.
The first quarter was brutal for Mount Zion, with Lincoln just so quick and pouring the buckets in. Ewald and Whiteman continued to hit from the three-point line while Froebe was doing just fine tossing in soft jumpers.

To prove how that the Railers couldn't do anything wrong in the first quarter, it would be Landon Hullinger recovering the loose ball after a Mount Zion miss and with just three seconds left the junior was aware of his surroundings and quickly dribbled down court and stopped and popped a long three that touched nothing but net as the buzzer sounded.

The first quarter came to an end with Lincoln demolishing Mount Zion 29-7.

Hullinger's hand stayed hot to start the second quarter and after he hit a three to open the scoring, he settled on a little baseline drive for two points next go 'round. A 34-9 score was the result and Hullinger was not done. He poured in another Lincoln basket to set the score at 36-12.

Before Lincoln ended this next run, Ewald, Singleton and Seth Tungate had propelled the Railers to a 44-12 lead. The Railers were playing unbelievably unselfish basketball and making everything look effortless. A 44-15 lead at halftime was the pleasing result.

Quarter three had a few more highlights for fans. After a Railers steal, Ewald spotted Singleton ahead on the fastbreak and a quick pass to the junior across the lane resulted in two points.

Hullinger would also catch the alley-oop pass from Froebe and lay it in for two more points. This put Lincoln ahead 50-15.

By the end of the quarter, Hullinger had dropped in a couple more baskets and the Railers lead was 60-21.

Fans know what this means in the fourth quarter. Here comes the running clock. As the bench players entered the game for Lincoln, Elijah Pollice would be the first to hit a corner three.

Adam Grunder likes to fire threes too, and he sank a couple in the final minutes to settle the score at 70-27.

Landon Hullinger led the way with 17 points, scoring from all over the court. Dylan Singleton tossed in 12 points and Kameron Whiteman scored 10 points for Lincoln.

The Railers improve to 23-2 overall and 9-0 in the Apollo Conference.

Lincoln will play at Effingham Friday night and at Charleston on Saturday night.

In the JV contest, Lincoln handed Mount Zion a 38-23 loss. Trent Koehler led the JV team with 20 points.

Varsity scoring

Lincoln 70

Hullinger 17
Singleton 12
K. Whiteman 10
Froebe 9
Ewald 8
Grunder 7
Tungate 4
Pollice 3

Mount Zion 27

Mose 6
Matthias Adams 5
Clark 4
High 4
DiTommaso 3
London 3
Mekhi Adams 2
 

JV scoring

Lincoln 38

Koehler 20
Klopp 9
Graue 6
Pollice 3

Mount Zion 23

Cuddy 9
Baumann 3
Hart 3
Adams 3
DiTommaso 3
Clark 2

[Teena Lowery]