Lincoln controls Purple Raiders from start to finish

[February 19, 2020]  The Lincoln Railers turned in another solid performance on Tuesday night in Bloomington with a 68-52 win over the Purple Raiders.

Lincoln controlled the game at the tip and Kameron Whiteman quickly tossed a lob pass into the lane to Dylan Singleton for the Railers first points.

Lincoln's Landon Hullinger controls

the tip over Bloomington

The Railers did allow the Purple Raiders to take a short-lived lead as Nolan Rink scored his only bucket of the game, a three, which gave Bloomington a 3-2 advantage.

Kaden Froebe quickly guided the Railers out to an 8-3 lead after he hit consecutive long threes that touched nothing but net.

The Railers continued showing off their shooting skills, as Whiteman connected for a long three at the 5:48 mark and Lincoln was up 11-3.

The score was 13-5 after Froebe tipped in the rebound after a rare Railer miss in the first quarter. Froebe would get called for a charge during the next Railer possession and this would give Landon Moore a chance to show what he was made of. Moore, a 6’1 junior, hit his first three of the game at the 4:10 mark to close the gap to 13-8.

Coach Neil Alexander directs his team

during a first-quarter timeout.

Whiteman answered that with another three for Lincoln. A mere twenty seconds later it was Moore taking a page out of the Railers book and connecting for yet another three, every bit as far off the three-point line as Whiteman. Lincoln was in control 16-11 but without a doubt Coach Neil Alexander was making his players aware that they had to get out and guard that no. 11 for the Purple Raiders.

Nonetheless, Lincoln kept pouring on the points.

Singleton’s field goal stretched the lead to 18-11.

Landon Hullinger’s three from the top put Lincoln in charge 21-11.

Finally, just as the first quarter was coming to an end, Will Ewald popped out into the corner and collected the pass and launched the three for a 24-11 Railers lead. Once again the first quarter showing by the Railers was outstanding.

Quick ball movement, non-stop hustle on defense and shoot the lights out from beyond the arc all attributed to the first quarter highlights. Basically these five starters hit the floor out of the huddle with a mentality and enthusiasm for the game that is unmatched in all of Central Illinois.

Railer fans really enjoy watching this team and they showed their support in person by making the drive north on Interstate 55 to pack the gym to the rafters. It was easy to tell that Lincoln had more fans in attendance than Bloomington. Enough said.

Second quarter

Moving quickly into the second quarter for the Railers was Ewald with a drive through the crowded lane and a two-point bucket.

Whiteman continued his hot hand from three-point range and this allowed the Railers a 29-16 lead.

The scoring slowed down a bit for Lincoln after this and the Purple Raiders crawled their way back into the game, albeit at a slow pace. In this stretch there were some fouls called and some trips to the free throw line. Neither team had great luck at the line, but after Moore sank his two free shots with 2:18 showing on the clock, the Railers lead was cut to 30-22.

Lincoln would close out the second quarter on a 6-0 run. After Ewald’s three was good, Hullinger would get set in the corner on the next Railer possession and while he had help with the miss, the foul was called and the 6’4 junior went to the line. He didn’t miss a single foul shot and he gave Lincoln a 36-22 lead heading into the locker room.

The third quarter began with threes. A real theme on the night. Bloomington’s Moore hit a couple really long threes and sandwiched in between that would be one from Lincoln’s Whiteman. When that dust settled the score was 39-28.

Hullinger’s three from the corner made it a 42-30 ballgame.

At the five minute mark Ewald changed things up a bit and took a left-handed lay-up through the lane and off the backboard for two points. Give Singleton a little time and he was back in the game, rebounding his own miss and putting it back in successfully in the second go round for two points and the 46-30 Railer lead.

Froebe also changed things up a bit and decided to hit a couple short jumpers down the stretch. He’s got that shot down pretty well. His smooth left-hand gave the Railers a 51-34 lead.

Sophomore Famious French scored the final points of the quarter in the lane for Bloomington and with that the Railers still controlled the game to the tune of a 51-36 lead.

News flash: no running clock in this fourth quarter. The Railers maintained a 15-point lead over the Purple Raiders with balanced scoring from each of the starters. The scoring was pretty simple on the Railers part, eight two-point field goals and a free throw. The Purple Raiders continued pouring it on from three-point range but it was a little too late to do any real damage. Lincoln walks away from Bloomington with 68-52 win.

Lincoln was led in scoring by Kaden Froebe with 19 points. Now is as good a time as any to say the senior who has worked so hard since his sophomore year is just single digits away from 1,000 points in his Railer career.

Bloomington’s Landon Moore led all scorers with 25 points. Moore poured in seven three-pointers for the Purple Raiders.

At the end of the tallying of the stats, the Purple Raiders hit 11 three-pointers in the game while the Railers connected for 10 three-pointers. Fans were really treated to a great night of shooting.

Lincoln improves to 26-2 on the season.

Bloomington’s record sits at 10-14 but with no seniors in the scoring column and driven by underclassmen, this team is a much better team than the record shows. The Purple Raiders will be a handful in the years to come.

In the JV contest Lincoln held on to win 46-42 over Bloomington. Brody Whiteman led Lincoln with 15 points.

JV coach Gregg Alexander draws up a play during a timeout.

The JV record sits at 18-3 on the season.

Lincoln will play Friday night at Taylorville. Coach Neil Alexander is reportedly chasing win no. 700 as the Railers head coach. The JV game will tip-off at 6 p.m. with the Varsity scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Railer fans, the drive is not far and with the anticipation of a couple special moments happening, get there on time! Go Railers!

Varsity Scoring

Lincoln 68

Froebe 19
K. Whiteman 16
Ewald 13
Hullinger 12
Singleton 8

Bloomington 52

Moore 25
French 10
Clayton 9
Beasley 3
Rink 3
Barger 2

JV Scoring

Lincoln 46

B. Whiteman 15
Pollice 9
Graue 8
Sasse 5
Klopp 4
Miller 3
Koehler 2

Bloomington 42

Shuey 13
Smith 8
Fraker 7
Stephens 7
Rink 3
Anderson 2
Stalter-Williams 2

[Teena Lowery]