Lincoln Railers defeat Chatham Glenwood 35-25

[January 22, 2020]  The non-conference matchup Tuesday night between former Central State Eight opponents, the Lincoln Railers and the Chatham Glenwood Titans, had a much slower pace than Railer fans are used to, but it was Lincoln coming out on top 35-25.

Both teams played great defense in front of a pretty packed Titans gymnasium, thus the low scoring affair. The Railers also implemented the strategy of a lot of motion offense to run time off the clock and secure the victory.

In the end it was really a matter of Coach Neil Alexander and his staff outsmarting the opponent to guide the players to victory. Without a doubt when certain things aren’t happening for the Railers, Coach Alexander knows how to get his team to adjust and battle for the win in other ways. Tuesday night was a good example of that.

Lincoln scored first in the game, but not until Will Ewald hit a three with 5:20 on the clock. Luke Lehnen answered back with a three and the game was tied.

Kameron Whiteman gave Lincoln a 6-3 lead when he connected with 3:21 on the first quarter clock. After a 10-second call on the Titans, the Railers took possession and Whiteman quickly tossed up another three that was good and extended the Lincoln lead to 9-3.

The rest of the first quarter offense belonged to the Titans. Tyler Burris was left wide open under the basket and he took advantage of the opportunity with a bucket. Tyler Estes got a corner three to fall at the 1:11 mark and that would settle the first quarter score at 9-8 in favor of Lincoln.

The Titans would take a 10-9 lead in the second quarter but not until 5:42 showed on the clock. Fans really weren’t getting exhausted from clapping too much at this point. Burris extended the lead for the Titans with a nice spin move in the lane for two just shy of the five-minute mark.

Ewald’s airball awakened the relatively quiet Titans student section next but the senior was not bothered, actually he was rather encouraged. Next time down the court Ewald tossed up another three that sailed smoothingly through the net for a 12-12 tie.

Lincoln’s tough as nails Dylan Singleton, who had battled in the lane earlier and came away empty-handed, kept trying too and he finally succeeded in the second quarter by earning his first points of the game. Singleton battled around his big guy, 6’6 Montray Logan, and got one to drop in the lane to give Lincoln a 14-12 lead.

Mitch Kilby quickly tied the game at the other end with the offense rebound putback. It would be Kilby to put the Titans up 16-14 on a basket with 1:24 left in the half. After a Lincoln miss, the Titans held the ball for a last-second shot and one attempt was foiled after Kaden Froebe swatted the ball away with 3.3 seconds remaining.

Given a second opportunity, this time the Titans missed the desperation shot as time expired. The Railers trailed 16-14 in this one at the half.

The third quarter began with the Titans owning possession and an opportunity to extend the lead but neither team could buy a basket for almost four minutes. In fact, it would be Singleton finally hitting a bucket in the lane and drawing the foul at the 4:39 mark. Singleton made good on the extra point and Lincoln took a 17-16 lead.

Seconds later Froebe took the ball away from the Titans and he traveled the distance, going behind his back and to the left to lay in his first points of the game and extend the Lincoln lead to 19-16.

Both offenses were quiet again for a couple minutes when it was Ewald going right side towards the basket and getting the bounce to fall through. Lincoln was now on top 21-16 with 2:32 left in the third quarter.

The Titans had plenty of fight left in them, and with 1:34 showing Lehnen drained a three to close the gap 21-19. Nobody to buy a basket to end the third quarter so Lincoln had to settle for hanging on by a thread to the 21-19 lead.

The big play of the game came courtesy of Singleton in the fourth quarter. Again, the 5’10 junior from Lincoln had no issues going body to body in the lane against someone eight inches taller. Singleton’s bucket ignited the Railer crowd and gave Lincoln a 23-19 lead with 4:49 left in the game. Singleton also picked up his third foul of the game a few minutes later and that sent Burris to the line to sink two and make the score 23-21.

Another minute later it was Landon Hullinger getting free off the motion offense and striking under the basket for two points. Lincoln’s lead was stretched to 25-21. But the Titans could operate the same way.

This time Logan got free under the basket and he laid it in for two points with exactly three minutes left in the game. Singleton kept his adrenaline pumping though and less than a minute later he was spinning through the lane and getting a nice bucket to extend the lead to 27-23.

Around the two minute mark a foul on Hullinger sent Logan to the line, but he missed both shots so Lincoln remained in control.

Getting down to the wire, Froebe went to the free throw line and made 1-of-2 for a 28-23 lead. But it didn’t take long for the Titans’ Estes to close the gap with his easy bucket off the offensive rebound and make the score 28-25. Jumping ahead in the game, that would be the last time the Titans scored.

Hullinger was fouled with 1:09 left and he hit 1-of-2 for a 29-25 lead. Hullinger would get another opportunity at the line and with ice in his veins he sank both shots this time to widen the gap to 31-25. The scoring was finished off in the final seconds with the Railers getting opportunities at the free throw line. Whiteman connected for 3-of-4 down the stretch while Froebe hit 1-of-2 from the line and that settled the final score at 35-25.

The Railers did not place a single player in double figures, that’s a first this season. Kameron Whiteman and Dylan Singleton each led Lincoln with nine points.

Tyler Estes led the Titans with seven points. Luke Lehnen tossed in six points, which included his 1,000 point of his career.

Lincoln improves to 16-2 on the season.

In the JV contest, Lincoln battled back from 19-3 deficit at one point to win 36-33.

Brody Whiteman led Lincoln with 17 points.

The Railers return to Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium Thursday night for a non-conference game against Washington.

The JV will tip-off at 6:00 p.m. Varsity will tip-off at 7:30 p.m.

Lincoln Varsity 35

K. Whiteman 9
Singleton 9
Ewald 8
Hullinger 5
Froebe 4

Glenwood 25

Estes 7
Lehnen 6
Burris 6
Kilby 4
Logan 2

JV scoring 36

Lincoln

B. Whiteman 17
Pollice 10
Sasse 6
Koehler 2
Battin 1

Glenwood 33

Logan 9
Bray 7
Curtis 6
Anderson 6
Hulvey 3
Daley 2

[Teena Lowery]