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 This game was certainly not all about
Nelson and the scoring mark. A missed free throw by Lanphier was
rebounded and put up and in as the first half ended, giving the
Lions a 37-34 advantage. It was one of those "it might not be our
night" kind of moments for Lincoln. However, a huge second half,
fueled by Nelson and Nathaniel Smith, helped the Railers boost their
record to 21-3, with a conference mark of 10-2.
How big was the second half? Coming
into the contest, the Railers were averaging just shy of 56 points a
game. They scored 56 points in the second half alone.
Lincoln shot a blistering 67 percent
(29 of 43) from the field, including a mind-boggling 22 of 26 (85
percent) from inside the 3-point line. It was just one of those
nights, including the game starting late due to the late arrival
of the Railers' opponents, 47 fouls resulting in 53 free throws,
two technicals and some rude gestures being flashed from the
visitors' seating area. Yep, just another boring night at Roy S.
Anderson.
Knowing that Lanphier likes to push
the tempo, Lincoln coach Neil Alexander was concerned that this week's
blizzard could play a part in the contest.
"I was worried about our
conditioning," Alexander said, referring to the team being unable to
have its normal amount of practice due to the blizzard. "We didn't
get to work on our defense a lot, but by this time of year, our guys
should be able to play defense with their eyes closed."
Well, if
they would have had their eyes closed, they would have missed a big
outburst from Lanphier's big man, Kendall Murdock.
After Lincoln's Jordan Gesner was able
to steal the opening tip away from Lanphier and convert a lay-in,
five seconds into the contest, the Railers had the lead. However,
Lincoln allowed too much inside play from the Lions, especially
Murdock, who finished with 10 points in the opening stanza.
The Railer defense did not put much
pressure on the ballhandlers, allowing easy entry passes into the
lane, resulting in easy buckets for the Lions. When Lincoln started
sagging to protect the lane, Jaylen Briggity found his stroke from
outside, connecting on two 3-pointers.
The first quarter was very much a back-and-forth affair. Down 8-7, Smith scored Lincoln's next seven
points. After a Christian Van Hook basket gave Lincoln a slim 16-15
lead, the Lions went on a 7-0 to go out to a 22-16 lead. After one
quarter, Lanphier was up 24-18, the game being played at NBA pace.
Lincoln faced their largest deficit of
the night early in the second quarter at 27-20. The Railers finally
turned up the defense pressure, forcing Lanphier into a stretch of
turnovers that allowed Lincoln to go on a 12-2 run, featuring a Van
Hook dunk, seven points from Smith and a Nelson 3.
After a timeout from Lanphier coach Chuck Shanklin at the 1:39 mark, the Lions responded with their own
counterpunch, outscoring the Railers 8-2 to end the half, including
the potential backbreaking lay-in off a missed free throw.
The third quarter played much like the
first quarter, with both teams executing on the offensive end but not so
much on the defensive side of the ball. Nelson scored Lincoln's last
five of the first half and continued on his record-breaking night,
tallying the Railers' first 11 in the third quarter.
His third 3 of the quarter, and
fifth of the night, tied the game at 45. Down 49-47, it was Smith,
continuing his excellent play of the last month, who drove to the
basket, hit the shot and converted an old-fashioned three-point
play to give the Railers a lead they would not relinquish.
One of the big shots of the night came
on Lincoln's next possession, when Austin Kirby hit his only 3 of
the night to push the Lincoln cushion to four at 53-49. Another Van
Hook basket and the Railers would take a 55-49 lead into the
fourth. Lincoln was looking to continue a trend as they had not
lost a game after having a lead at the end of three quarters (19-0
going into Friday).
In a game that featured 47 fouls,
someone had to get into serious trouble. Unfortunately for the
faithful gathered on Primm Road, that someone was Smith. "Smitty"
picked up his fourth foul just 13 seconds into the fourth quarter,
forcing him to the bench.
With one leader on the bench, another
stepped up. Nelson scored all 10 of Lincoln's points in a brief
10-4 spurt to push the lead to 65-53. With Smith being one of the
main ballhandlers for coach Alexander, but being saddled with foul
trouble, a key part of the fourth quarter outburst that won't show
up in the box score was turned in by Jake Olson. The junior came in
against a much quicker Lanphier squad and was able to help the
Railers withstand any type of pressure. When Smith returned to the
court with about 4 1/2 minutes remaining, the Railers were
up 67-57. Again, Lanphier had one more push left, getting as close
as five at 69-64.
Then, it really got fun.
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Up 71-64, and after a Lanphier miss
with less than 2 1/2 to go, heralded Lanphier
freshman Larry Austin Jr. was whistled for his fifth foul. On the
way to the bench area, Austin was a little too demonstrative in his
frustration with the call and was assessed a technical foul. Nelson
made three of the four free throws and then scored on a nice look
from Smith to see the Lincoln lead grow to 76-64.
With just over a minute to go, Murdock
was hit for a personal and a technical foul, and after Smith hit the
first two and Nelson the technical, the Railers had stretched it to
84-67. Then the only question became how close would Nelson get to
the scoring record. Well, he flew right past it. A driving layup
with 40 seconds to go put him at 46, and two more free throws carved
the new mark of 48 into the record books.
On the night, the numbers are
staggering. Combining both 2- and 3-point attempts and free
throws, Lincoln made 54 of their 72 attempts, including a more Railer-like 25 of 29 from the free-throw line. Lincoln has certainly
improved from the charity stripe, going 53 of their last 62 (85
percent).
However, rebounding and interior
defense was an issue, as coach Alexander referred to the Lincoln
defense in the paint as "nonexistent."
The rebounding is an area that
Alexander knows can be a weakness, but looking down the road to
March, it is an area that could determine how far the team goes.
"I
want to play for three weeks after the regular season is over, and if
we get prepared, we've got to solve the problem with rebounding and
have the mindset that we have to board," Alexander proclaimed.
"We develop that, we're going to be pretty tough to defeat."
The Railers were led by Nelson's
record-setting performance of 48 points, while Smith was just three
off his career high, scoring 23. Van Hook added eight, while Gesner and
Coyne each had four, and Kirby scored three.
The sophomores were victorious on
Friday night as well, 46-43. Tommy Harris' 3 with 51 seconds
to go broke a 40-all tie. Will Podbelsek led with 11 points, while
Max Cook and Cody Heidbreder scored nine, and Edward Bowlby and
Harris added seven.
The Railers are back in action on
Saturday in Springfield to take on the Senators, hoping to avenge an
earlier one-point loss at home, 43-42, on Mark Gilchrese's jumper with
less than 10 seconds to go. As with all Saturday conference games, tip
time for the varsity is scheduled for 6:30.
Other conference scores from Friday:
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Southeast 85, Jacksonville 53
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SHG 60, Rochester 58 (2 OT)
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Springfield, 50, Glenwood 43
___
LINCOLN (90)
Nelson 14-20 14-16 48, Smith 6-10
11-12 23, Van Hook 4-5 0-0 8, Gesner 2-4 0-0 4, Coyne 2-2 0-1 4,
Kirby 1-2 0-0 3, Olson 0-0 0-0 0, Podbelsek 0-0 0-0 0, Cook 0-0 0-0
0, Hays 0-0 0-0 0, Krusz 0-0 0-0 0. Team 29-43 25-29 90.
3-point
field goals 7-17 (Nelson 6-12, Kirby 1-2, Van Hook 0-1, Smith 0-1, Gesner 0-1).
Rebounds 24 (Van Hook, Smith 5), assists 12 (Nelson,
Kirby, Coyne 3), steals 5 (Van Hook 2), turnovers 11.
Lanphier (72)
Murdock 22, Briggity 16, Austin 10,
Davis 9, Powers 8, Clemons 7. Team 25-54 17-24 72.
3-point field
goals 5-14 (Briggity 4, Davis). Rebounds 30, assists 7, steals 6,
turnovers 9.
Score by quarters:
End of first quarter -- Lanphier 24, LCHS 1
Halftime -- Lanphier 37, LCHS 34
End of third quarter -- LCHS
55, Lanphier 49
[By JEFF BENJAMIN]
Jeff Benjamin's Railer basketball articles
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