 Senior Jordan Nelson led four Railers in double figures as Lincoln
started the 2010-2011 season with a convincing 61-49 victory over
Belleville Althoff. Nelson's 22 points moved him into sole
possession of sixth place on the all-time scoring list. Joining
Nelson were Nathaniel Smith's 12 points, while juniors Jordan Gesner
and Christian Van Hook hit double figures for the first time with 11
points each.
Lincoln displayed scoring from different areas throughout the
game. The senior Smith, who also led the team in rebounding with
six, assists with eight and steals with three, scored Lincoln's
first points of the season on a strong reverse layup. After allowing
Althoff to run off five in a row, Smith again scored from
underneath. Jordan Nelson's first points of the night, a nice finger
roll, tied the game at six. After forcing his first few 3-point
attempts, Nelson may not have seen his first 3 of the night go in
the basket as he was knocked to the ground in front of the
Crusaders' bench. After hitting the free throw and completing the
four-point play, Lincoln (1-0) had the lead at 10-9 and would not
trail the rest of the night.
The last seven seconds of the first quarter had its share of
excitement. Van Hook scored his first points on a majestic alley-oop.
Maybe a little too much celebrating of the late basket caused the
Railers to lose focus and allow Althoff's David Franklin to take the
inbound pass, step just across half court and drain a 3 that my
broadcast partner, Tom Larey, called good as soon as it left
Franklin's hand. All that work and the Railers led by only one at
the end of the first, 15-14.
Now, stop me if you heard this one before, but the second quarter
belonged to the Lincoln defense. The Railers used a 13-2 run to
stretch the lead to 28-16. Instrumental in the scoring of that run
were Van Hook and Gesner, including another alley-oop to Van Hook
and a long 3 from Gesner. However, it was the defense that was the
star of the second quarter. Althoff turnovers turning into easy
points for Lincoln were the norm.
After the game, Lincoln coach Neil Alexander commented on his
squad's defense: "We had some double teams and traps in the corner
that were as good as we've had in years."
One play that summed up the tenacity of the Lincoln defense saw
junior Jake Olson out of his normal position, forced to come from
the weak side. In doing so, a loose ball in the lane saw Olson run
up against Althoff senior Carson Sonnenberg. The future Division I
football player is listed at 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds, while Olson
goes 5-foot-7 at 130 pounds. What is it they say? It's not the dog
in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog. Olson's scrappy
nature created a blocked shot for Brant Coyne and, ultimately, a
lane violation giving the ball back to Lincoln.
At the half, the Railers enjoyed a double-digit lead at 28-18.
Another reason the Railers were able to stretch their lead going
into the half was the 60 percent shooting from Lincoln. Althoff shot
47 percent, but turnovers limited their opportunities.
Let's see, scoring on the inside during the first quarter,
defense into offense in the second. Hey, what happened to that team
that loves to shoot the 3s? Wait, there's a knock at the door. Oh,
they're here.
The first 12, and 18 of the total 22 points in the third quarter,
came from behind the arc as Lincoln's shooting pushed the Lincoln
lead to 19 at the end of the period, 50-31. Nathaniel Smith hit two
from long range, while Nelson, Van Hook, Austin Kirby and Gesner
each added one. For the second half, Lincoln hit 50 percent of their
3-point attempts.
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If the game would have stopped there, coach Alexander would have
been ecstatic. "I think we're conditioned to play three quarters,"
Alexander said. "For the first three quarters, we played really
well, but in the fourth, we gave up some easy points inside. But for
those first three quarters, I was happy with how our guys played."
The fourth quarter was a little chaotic with some
uncharacteristically sloppy play. After holding a 52-31 lead early
in the quarter, Althoff (0-1) went on a 16-4 run to close the gap to
nine at 56-47. The Railers finished the game off at the free-throw
line to walk away with a 61-49 win.
Coach Alexander reiterated how pleased he was with those on the
floor, including players getting their first extended varsity
minutes in Van Hook and Gesner. "If we get that from Van Hook each
night, we'll be more than pleased," the coach said. The junior
finished hitting 5 of 9 shots. "Gesner played well," Alexander said,
"and has some size. He is a good player."
Along with those in double figures, Kirby added three and Coyne
scored two.
The next game is Wednesday night at 7:30 against Champaign
Centennial. The Chargers were winners at home on Monday over
Danville 77-73. The early contest at Roy S. Anderson saw Morton beat
Cahokia 67-49.
Throughout the year, you can find updated stats and other notes
on the Railers here at LDN. If you have any suggestions about what
you'd like to see, contact us at www.lincolndailynews.com and we
will try to make this more of a resource for Lincoln Railer
basketball.
___
LINCOLN (61)
Nelson 7-16 5-6 22, Smith 5-8 0-0 12, Gesner 4-5 1-3 11, Van Hook
5-9 0-0 11, Kirby 1-1 0-0 3, Coyne 1-3 0-1 2, Olson 0-0 0-0 0. Team
23-42 6-10 61.
3-point FG: 9-23 (Nelson 3-12, Gesner 2-3, Smith 2-4, Van Hook 1-1,
Kirby 1-1, Coyne 0-2).
Rebounds 16 (Smith 6), assists 20 (Smith 8), steals 7 (Smith 3),
turnovers 4.
Belleville Althoff (49)
Franklin 21, Sonnenberg 13, Francis 9, Salmind 4, Quarles 2. Team
20-37 4-9 49.
3-point FG: 5-14, rebounds 28, assists 6, turnovers 15.
Score by quarters:
LINCOLN 15-13-22-11 -- 61
Althoff 14-4-13-18 -- 49
Other notes:
Congratulations to Ben Brackney. The former Railer scored his
first collegiate points on Monday, scoring six and grabbing three
rebounds in Bucknell's win over Presbyterian. Bucknell plays again
this afternoon against Princeton. During the season, we will keep
you up to date on Brackney's progress during his freshman year.
[By JEFF BENJAMIN]
Jeff Benjamin's Railer basketball articles
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