LCU basketball wins one and loses one

[February 18, 2014]  MOBERLY, Mo. — The Lincoln Christian University Red Lions men's and women's basketball teams traveled to Moberly, Mo., on Saturday to face the Saints of Central Christian College of the Bible.

The LCU women played at 1 p.m. in the second of their home-and-home series with the Saints. When CCCB visited Gaston Arena in Lincoln, the Red Lions took the win from the visitors. Saturday afternoon was a return to the same theme as the visiting LCU Red Lions earned their 11th win of the year.

LCU finished the first half strong, after being down by one point seven minutes in. The Red Lions began building a 15-point lead, the largest of the game, with only a few seconds to spare in the first half. They headed into the locker room after a CCCB bucket that gave a midpoint score of 37-24. When play resumed, LCU came out and scored another 37 points in the second half. It proved enough to win, as the Saints couldn't close the deficit and ended up on the wrong side of the 74-67 scoreline.

Junior guard Tatiana Colclasure (Effingham/Effingham High) led LCU's scoring with 24 points. She was followed by freshman transfer center Betty Elliot (Crawfordsville, Ind./IUPUI) with 21 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.

The LCU men's team met the Saints in the 3 p.m. game. The men's game was very closely contested. The players went into the locker room tied at the half with a score of 44-44, an indication of how close the two teams kept the game. The Saints went up 73-72 with only 13 seconds left on the clock, and the Red Lions were unable make a winning bucket in the waning seconds. The men lost a heartbreaking game, their second in a row, and fell to 9-14 for the season.

Senior forward David Graves (Eustace, Texas/Eustace High) and freshman guard Jimmy Smylie (Springfield/Calvary Academy) scored 15 points each to lead the Red Lions' scoring in the loss to the Saints. Sophomore forward Raymond Shegog (Sun River Terrace/Lincoln College) contributed 14 points and pulled in seven rebounds.

On Tuesday the women's team will host Kuyper College at Gaston Arena with a 5 p.m. start time, while the men travel to St. Louis College of Pharmacy for a 7 p.m. matchup.

[Text from file received from Todd Spellman, Lincoln Christian University]

LCU women's basketball

LCU men's basketball

Lincoln Christian University's School of Undergraduate Studies is a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association, Division II. Founded in Lincoln in 1944, Lincoln Christian's three schools — the School of Undergraduate Studies, the Hargrove School of Adult & Graduate Studies, and the Seminary — share a mission to nurture and equip Christians with a biblical worldview to serve and lead in the church and the world. For more information about the Red Lions, visit LincolnChristian.edu/athletics.