Railers sluggish in 60-53 win over Jacksonville

[December 05, 2009]  According to Lincoln coach Neil Alexander, there was one team on the court Friday night that came ready to play, one team that hustled, and one team that played with the emotion necessary to compete. Unfortunately, that team was not the team he sees in practice every day.

Yes, the Lincoln Railers improved to 5-1 on the young season with a 60-53 victory over Jacksonville. However, as the crowd filed out of Roy S. Anderson gymnasium, you just got the sense the Railers had escaped with one.

"Emotion --" Alexander started, "we need to play with emotion, and we did not do that tonight. They did, but we didn't."

A game many thought would see the Railers win easily and get the starters some rest turned into a contest from a team that just would not go away.

When the Railers got off to an early 5-0 lead, it seemed all the pieces were falling into place very early for a comfortable win. The Crimsons (2-4) played Lincoln even the rest of the way, trailing 18-10 at the end of the first quarter. Jordan Nelson led the Railers with nine in the opening quarter, but Jacksonville was able to contain the junior the rest of the night, allowing him only six more points.

It's a good thing Lincoln had that eight-point lead to begin the second quarter, as Jacksonville coach J.R. Dugan's squad outscored the Railers the rest of the way. It did seem, though, that at the end of the first quarter and early in the second, Lincoln was on a run that would be enough to quiet the Crimsons. An 11-0 run pushed the Lincoln lead from 13-10 to 24-10, and Lincoln looked in command.

That was the frustrating thing about Friday night's contest. The Railers just could not throw that final punch or drive in that last nail. If it were a boxing match, it seemed like watching the favorite throw jab after jab after jab, but not ever do enough damage to keep the underdog from swinging wildly, occasionally connecting. There was the eerie feeling that eventually, one of those wild swings might result in a knockout.

Again, after getting to the 14-point advantage, Jacksonville played even until running off five in a row to get within 10 at the half, 33-23. A more alert Crimson defense could have had the game closer, but junior Brant Coyne scored six in the first half, four on easy baskets on out-of-bounds plays where a simple bounce pass on the inbounds got him the ball in the lane for the score. The easy scores helped Lincoln shoot 54 percent in the first half, but Jacksonville shot even better, connecting on 10 of 16 for 63 percent.

The second half was more of the same from the first half. Lincoln would stretch out to leads in the mid-teens only to see Jacksonville climb right back in.

Led by scores from Coyne and Ben Brackney, Lincoln took the lead 45-30 and there was the feeling that this was the moment the game would be put out of reach. Unfortunately, no one let the group from Morgan County in on that fact. Jacksonville ran off nine in a row to pull within six as the third quarter ended.

As Lincoln nursed the six-point lead of 45-39, junior Nathaniel Smith was fouled as he drove down the lane. The free-throw line has not been the friend of the Railers early this season. Smith missed one of two as the woes of the team continued.

In the last three games of the Eaton Electrical Tournament, Lincoln shot only 63 (22-35) percent from the line. Friday, the Railers finished only 12 of 17, good for 71 percent. Not too bad for most teams, but many in the Railer Nation know this team is good for percentages in the high 70s. Whether they liked it or not, this was turning into one of those games when free throws would be key.

The Railers did score the first three in the fourth, only to be equaled by the Crimsons. Three more from Brackney was followed by a Jacksonville basket, and the Crimsons climbed as close as they had been since the first quarter, at 51-46. Another Coyne basket put the Railers up 53-46, and a missed Jacksonville shot proved to be the turning point with less than two minutes to go.

With 1:56 to go, Brackney grabbed the rebound and tried to dribble out of trouble in the backcourt. It appeared Brackney stepped out of bounds before being fouled. After the foul was called, Crimson coach Dugan, who had been questioning a number of calls, came out on the court to point out Brackney's apparent misstep.

Instead, Dugan was hit with a technical foul. Brackney hit both free throws from the foul, then two more thanks to the technical. During the ensuing possession, Nelson hit two from the foul line, giving the Railers six points after the technical, enough to push the lead to 13.

The Crimsons did end with a 7-to-1 run, but they ran out of time and the Railers picked up the win.

However, the lack of Railer effort was not lost on Lincoln coach Alexander. "We relied on talent tonight and did not play with emotion. You can't do that and expect to win," Alexander said. "You can't come out and play like we did against Althoff with the emotion and intensity and then play like this tonight."

When summarizing the first six games of the season, Alexander added: "I'm most disappointed with two things so far -- our intensity and our defense. We're not going to outscore people. We have to win with our defense."

All that being said, it was a Lincoln win. Lincoln was led by Brackney's career-high 24 points and six rebounds. Nelson added 15 points, including four 3-pointers. Coyne also recorded a career-best with 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Austin Kirby, getting the start for Cameron Turner, added five, while Hayden Cosby hit from long range in the second quarter. Smith added a free throw, but led the team with five assists.

Other scores from the opening night of CS8 play saw Springfield defeat SHG 56-44, Lanphier over Southeast 57-51, and Taylorville fell for the 40th straight conference game, losing to Glenwood 59-39.

Lincoln is off until Friday night, when they host Chatham Glenwood. Game time is 7:30 p.m. at Roy S. Anderson, and it will be the last game at home in 2009. Of course, you can read all about it here at Lincoln Daily News.

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LINCOLN (60)

Brackney 7-14 8-9 24, Nelson 4-10 3-4 15, Coyne 6-8 0-0 12, Kirby 2-6 0-0 5, Cosby 1-2 0-0 3, Smith 0-3 1-4 1, Bowlby 0-0 0-0 0. Team 20-43 12-17 60.
3-point field goals 8-24 (Nelson 4-9, Brackney 2-6, Cosby 1-2, Kirby 1-5, Smith 0-2).
Rebounds 20 (Brackney 6), assists 14 (Smith 5), steals 14 (Cosby 4), turnovers 10.

Jacksonville (53)

Burgess 24, Williams 10, Berry 9, Bunner 6, Farrell 2, J. Lonergan 2. Team 20-40 7-9 53.
3-point field goals 6-16.
Rebounds 26, assists 11, steals 6, turnovers 16.

Lincoln 18-15-12-15
Jacksonville 10-13-16-14

Other Railer notes:

• This is the third game in a row the Railers have scored 60 against Jacksonville.

• With a 3 tonight, Jordan Nelson has hit from long range in 32 straight games and 44 of his last 46.

• Both Ben Brackney and Nelson scored in double figures. Brackney has scored 10 or more in the last 10 games, while Nelson's streak is at nine. It was also the fifth time Brackney has gone for 20 or more in a game.

• Brackney's two 3-pointers allow him to pass former teammate Louie Schonauer for 13th with 102.

• Jordan Nelson's scoring tonight allowed him to pass 800 points for his career.

[Special report by JEFF BENJAMIN]