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 Friday night was no different.
Glenwood held the Railers to just 14 points through the first three
quarters and cooked up just enough offense in the fourth quarter to
beat the home squad 39-28. The loss, their fifth in a row, drops the
Lincoln record to 9-7, and they also fall below .500 in conference,
dropping to 3-4. It was another scoring drought that doomed the
Railers as they scored only seven points over the second and third
quarters, making only two field goals in that time.
“We were flat, especially in the third quarter,” Lincoln coach Neil
Alexander said after the game. “They simply played harder than we
did.
In every aspect, both on the court and on the stat sheet, Glenwood
came out on top. When Lincoln was able to put together some offense,
the Railers were never able to hit that one shot that swung all the
momentum their way.
During the early stages of the game, Lincoln was hanging in with the
Titans (10-6, 6-1). After Glenwood’s Ethan Hunt hit a three to start
the game, the Railers knotted the game as Isaiah Bowers was fouled
while making a basket and converted the free throw. The sophomore
led the way for Lincoln, scoring half of the team’s 28 points. KJ
Fry, who had been held scoreless over the past two games, put
Lincoln on top with a three. That lead was short lived as Parker
Allen, the conference’s third leading scorer hit his only trey of
the night to tie the game at six.
Bowers continued his aggressive play during the first quarter and
was fouled on a drive through the lane. Lincoln was back on top 7-6
when Bowers made one of two from the line. Glenwood ended the first
quarter scoring, taking an 8-7 lead when Karson Aherin grabbed an
offensive rebound and scored. The Titans controlled the board most
of the evening, enjoying a 26-14 advantage on the boards.
While Glenwood’s leading scorer (Allen) had already made his mark,
it wasn’t until the second quarter when Lincoln’s top scorer, Aron
Hopp, finally got on the board. Hopp scored on a drive down the lane
and layup with the left hand to give the lead back to the Railers at
9-8. The Railers extended their margin as Bowers grabbed a missed
shot and drained a ten-foot jumper to push the Lincoln lead to
three. It would match their largest lead of the night. It would also
be the beginning of the night’s downfall.
Glenwood did a good job of spreading out the Lincoln defense and
took advantage as Aherin made a perfect back door pass to a cutting
Joel Alexander. The big momentum swing came near the end of the half
as Glenwood’s Matt Bahlmann was fouled on a drive to the basket and
his free throw completed a three point play and put the Titans up
13-11 at halftime.
Yep, 13-11 at the half. Believe it or not, a few years ago, the
score at intermission was only 8 to 5. Again, when these two get
together on the court, points are at a premium.
The run for Glenwood continued as Allen and Aherin each scored to
pull away to a 17-11 lead. It wasn’t until 4:34 was left in the
quarter before Lincoln scored as Hopp made one of two free throws.
That pulled the Railers to within five points, but the Titans
continued their pressure and built a double digit lead on a three
from Bahlmann and another score from Aherin inside. Bowers made a
pair of free throws to momentarily cut the lead to eight. It was
another quarter where the Railers were shut out from the field,
scoring the only three points from the line. A drive by Allen
stretched the margin back to ten at 24-14.
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During the early stages of the fourth quarter, it felt as though
Lincoln was just this close to taking control of the game and
getting back in it. It didn’t take long for the scoring to start as
Bryson Kirby hit a long three, but each time Lincoln would score,
the defense could not stop the Titans. Allen scored to push the game
to 26-17. Fry dribbled just inside the three point line to convert
on a 16-foot jumper as the game went back and forth near double
digits. Hunt stymied the comeback attempt as he hit the second of
his two threes on the night and the lead was back to ten.
The last best Lincoln push came as Kirby hit another three. Another
inside lay-in from Allen was followed by a steal that resulted in a
driving layup by Bowers. Two more free throws from Bowers pulled
Lincoln within five at 31-26. After another Lincoln steal, the
Railers could not find the bottom of the net. A lot of the credit
goes to Glenwood’s Ethan Hunt who was responsible for guarding
Garrett Aeilts. Lincoln’s leading three point shooter missed the
only two shots he got free for from three point range. The second
came as the Railers tried to draw closer than five, but it fell
short.
Glenwood did the job from the line as well as they hit all six free
throws during a game ending 8-2 run to close out the win. It is a
rare night that Lincoln gets outscored from behind the three point
line, but the 3 of 19 shooting is not going to lead to many wins for
the Railers. Again, Glenwood did what they had to do to win and, as
is typical in these games, they were the first to thirty.
The Railers were led by Bowers and his 14 points. Kirby added six
points with Fry scoring five and Hopp held to just three.
The task for getting a win does not get any easier on Saturday night
when Lincoln continues on in the Central State Eight non-city
tournament as they travel to MacArthur to take on the Generals.
Lincoln has already had one encounter with MacArthur, falling during
the semifinals in Collinsville 59-37 when Keymonta Johnson torched
the Railers for 24 points. Stopping him will go a long way towards
giving Lincoln a chance to finally end their current losing streak.
The game is scheduled to start at 6:30pm at the new MacArthur gym.
LINCOLN (28)
Bowers 4 6-7 14, Kirby 2 0-0 6, Fry 2 0-0 5, Hopp 1 1-2 3, Aeilts 0
0-0 0, Biggs 0 0-0 0, Hullinger 0 0-0 0, Bacon 0 0-0 0. TEAM 9 7-9
28. 3pt FG 3 (Kirby 2, Fry).
GLENWOOD (39)
Allen 13, Bahlmann 8, Aherin 8, Hunt 6, Alexander 4. TEAM 14 7-7 39.
3pf FG 4 (Hunt 2, Bahlmann, Allen).
LCHS 7-4-3-14 28
GLENWOOD 8-5-11-15 39
[Jeff Benjamin]
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