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 That was the postgame reaction by Lincoln Coach Neil Alexander
after his top-seeded Railers survived a scare at the hands of
Decatur Eisenhower, pulling out a 10-point victory, 42-32.
The win
puts Lincoln in the winner's side of the bracket, setting up a
matchup with Quincy at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.
"It wasn't just one player, or two players," Alexander said, "it was
everyone. I'm not sure how much we did right tonight, if anything.” Alexander's comments after his 626th career victory may have contained
more frustration than he is used to expressing, but if you saw the
game, then you would understand.
Lincoln (10-0) simply did not play well. There did not seem to be
any urgency or aggressiveness shown by the Railers. After finding
themselves down 4-2, Lincoln ran off a 20-6 run to take a 22-10 lead
into the half. A Brant Coyne basket gave the Railers a 14-point
lead, their largest of the evening. It seemed the rest of the game
was played in slow motion.
The Panthers (1-8) showed more effort and desire in the second half
than the Railers, and it almost cost Lincoln their undefeated record.
Eisenhower went on their own 15-4 run to close to being down just
28-25. The run was fueled by sloppy passing, poor shot selection
and an overall holiday hangover.
It has been a long time since the Railers played a game where
they just did not seem interested in being on the court. That
disinterest almost sent them to the Auxiliary gym, a place at
Collinsville where you don't want to be playing basketball.
A Nathaniel Smith bucket and free throw sandwiched around an
Eisenhower 3-pointer brought the Lincoln lead to three at 31-28.
Another Panther basket cut the Lincoln lead to one. The biggest shot
of the night was delivered by Jordan Nelson. The senior, along with
Smith, returned to game action coming off the bench.
Nelson's contested 3 sent Lincoln on an 11-2 run to end the
game and get the win 42-32. Lincoln's final six points came from the
free-throw line, an area that has not been a Railer strength this
season and was troublesome again on Tuesday. Lincoln, coming in
shooting at 67 percent on the season, stayed true to that, going 14
of 21 from the line for the game, but only 7 of 11 in the fourth
quarter. Those free-throw struggles were shared by the Panthers,
whose inability to connect from the charity stripe, going just 9 of
18, kept the upset bid just past arm's reach.
Both teams shot poorly: Lincoln 33 percent, Eisenhower 32. The
Railers forced 21 turnovers but committed 14 of their own. Lincoln
really struggled from 3-point range, hitting only two of their 19
attempts, while the Panthers hit just one from behind the arc,
missing their other 10 tries. Simply put, this was an ugly game,
but all that being said, the Railers got the win and move on to the
matchup with Quincy.
[to top of second column]
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The reason for the struggles? Coach Neil Alexander had a simple
answer.
"We were not mentally prepared for this game, and when
you're not mentally prepared, you won't be ready to shoot or
play defense," he said.
If the Railers are going to have one of those
games where nothing seems to go right, let's hope it was this
one and that the level of play rises dramatically as the tournament,
and the season, progresses.
The contest also saw the return of Smith and Nelson, both coming
off the bench. Smith led the way with 12 points and nine rebounds,
while Nelson struggled to find his shot, scoring nine points on
2-of-11 shooting. Christian Van Hook scored all eight of his
points in the first half, while Brant Coyne played a strong
game, scoring seven and grabbing eight rebounds. Austin Kirby
added four, while Jordan Gesner scored a third-quarter basket
for his only two of the night.
Defensively, the Railers were able to post two single-digit
quarters in the first half but found themselves outscored 22-20 in
the second half.
___
LINCOLN (42)
Smith 2-6 8-10 12, Nelson 2-11 4-5 9, Van Hook 4-7 0-1 8, Coyne
3-7 0-0 7, Kirby 1-5 2-5 4, Gesner 1-4 0-0 2, Olson 0-0 0-0 0.
Team 13-40 14-21 42.
3-point field goals 2-19 (Coyne 1-3, Nelson
1-9, Van Hook 0-1, Kirby 0-3, Gesner 0-3).
Rebounds 28 (Smith
9), assists 8 (Nelson 4), steals 10 (Van Hook 4), turnovers 14.
Eisenhower (32)
Calmese 14, Smith 8, Martin 4, Davis 4, Apholone 2. Team 11-34
9-18 32.
3-point field goals 1-11 (Calmese).
Rebounds 30,
assists 3, steals 7, turnovers 21.
Score by quarters:
End of first quarter -- LCHS 10, Eisenhower 4
Halftime -- LCHS 22, Eisenhower 10
End of third quarter -- LCHS 28, Eisenhower 20
Other notes:
- Jordan Nelson is now just four points away from 1,500 for his
career.
[By JEFF BENJAMIN]
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