Railers defeat Normal West 47-40

[January 26, 2022] Lincoln hosted Normal West on Tuesday night and defeated the Wildcats 47-40. 

The Railers shutout the Wildcats 12-0 in the first quarter, with Tyler Sasse and Aidan Gowin each tossing in five points and Jack Bivin starting things off with the first basket.

The Wildcats used a 9-0 run to crawl back in this one in the second quarter. Another three from Sasse stretched the lead to 15-9, but Normal West was quick on the other end to land a three and the Lincoln lead was trimmed to 15-12. Bivin’s two free throws provided a cushion with around 2:00 left to play in the quarter. But the Wildcats loved the perimeter and used another three to inch closer, 17-15 the score. Before the quarter ended, Gowin’s steal and layup from the left side put Lincoln on top 20-16. Gowin was fouled on the layup and he completed the three-point play for a Railers 21-26 lead at the half. 

Things got a little messy in the third quarter. Turnovers plagued both teams. Normal West would tie the game 21-21. Gowin’s three at the 5:40 mark put the Railers back in front 24-21. But the Wildcats raced back to a 25-24 lead. Payton Cook’s buckets put the Railers back on top 28-25 but those Wildcats loved the outside. A three at the 2:30 mark tied the game again, 28-28 the score this time. Bivin would earn the lead back for Lincoln after his third try in the lane was good and the score was 30-28. But not for long. Another three by Normal West and the score was in their favor, 31-30. And yet another three by the Wildcats was in the near future, this time bringing the score to 34-30. One more basket by Cook would allow Lincoln to escape the quarter trailing just 34-32. 

Lincoln started the fourth quarter with possession of the ball and it was Gowin with a three to put Lincoln back on top, 35-34. On the other end, the Wildcats were quick to launch a three and regain control of the lead. But hang on, here is Sasse wanting the ball and he gets it. Sasse’s three put the Railers in front 38-37. This time it was for good. After Pollice put the next three points on the board for the Railers, it was a 41-37 lead. Bivin’s layup stretched the lead to 43-37. One more three was all the Wildcats had left in them and that was good because the score was 43-40 with 1:55 left to play. The Wildcats missed threes in their final four possessions of the game and with the Railers able to sink free throws, Lincoln escaped with a win. The final score was 47-40.

The Wildcats made ten threes versus Lincoln.

Aidan Gowin led the Railers with 14 points. Tyler Sasse continued to light up the scoring column and he had 11 points. Jake Bivin reached double-figures with 10 points. 

Lincoln improves to 17-4 on the season.

In the JV game, the Railers defeated Normal West 59-34. 

Ki’on Carson led Lincoln with 19 points. Darren Stevens added 12 points and Trey Schilling tossed in 11 points.

Lincoln will play at Mattoon on Friday night. The JV game will start at 6 p.m. The Varsity game will tip-off at 7:30 p.m.

Lincoln Head Coach Neil Alexander is going for win no. 900 that night. 

Varsity scoring

Lincoln 47

Gowin 14

Sasse 11

Bivin 10

Cook 8

Pollice 4

Normal West 40

Camp 17

Edmonson 9

Cherry 6

Demonstheres 4

Smith 2

Ziebarth 2

JV scoring

Lincoln 59 

Ki’on Carson 19

Stevens 12

Schilling 11

Hayes 7

Miller 3

Toft 2

Evers 2

Ka’ni Carson 2

Horn 1

Normal West 34

Alexander Jr. 12

Williams 8

Durham 6

Robinson 6

Craner 2

[Teena Lowery]