Offense comes to life as Railers avenge earlier loss against MacArthur
LINCOLN 65, MACARTHUR 49

[January 19, 2017]  Did anyone see this coming? I bet if you ask those huddled in the Lincoln locker room before the game, they did.

Junior Isaiah Bowers led four Railers in double figures and Lincoln came back from a first quarter double digit deficit to surprise Decatur MacArthur 65-49. The win moves Lincoln’s record to 13-6, 7-2 in conference play, and keeps them in the hunt for the title of the Central State Eight Non-City Tournament. This was not only a victory over a team that had beaten the Railers in late December, it was a win over tough opponent.

“Outside of Edwardsville, this team (MacArthur) is probably the best team we’ve played all season,” Lincoln coach Neil Alexander said. “This is a really tough team, but I’m proud of our guys. They fought hard. I told the team I am happy, but not satisfied. There are things this team needs to work on, but tonight, we played really well.”

Now, that’s not to say there wasn’t a bit of trepidation during the early stages of the game. After Nolan Hullinger put Lincoln on the board with an early three, the fast-paced, quick strike offense of the Generals quickly turned the game in their favor. Zach Briggs tied the game with a three pointer before baskets from Adrian Williams and Armon Brummett s well as free throws pushed the MacArthur lead to 9-3. Bowers temporarily stopped the run with a pair of free throws. A quick 5-0 run by the Generals, including a three from Amir Brummett, extended the lead to 14-5 and prompted Alexander to take an early timeout with 1:57 left in the quarter,

The atmosphere in Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium seemed dampened. That mood did not improve as Amir Brummett hit another jumper. The Railers were able to use the overaggressive play of the Generals against them, breaking out the back door play as Drew Bacon scored on a pinpoint pass from Titus Cannon. It was another three from Armon Brummett that stretched the advantage to 19-7, Lincoln’s largest deficit of the night. Showing the grit they would exhibit all night, the Railers hung tough and cut the lead before the end of the quarter. Bacon scored again on a layup while Bryson Kirby hit a three to start his big night and the lead for Mac Arthur hung at seven after eight minutes.

Armon Brummett got the momentum back with the Generals with an early score but the Railers would not go away on this night. Another three for Hullinger was followed by Bowers scoring on a back door pass from Tate Sloan and an alley oop inbounds lob from Kirby. Just like that, the Railers had pulled within two. When the Generals got in trouble, they turned to Armon Brummett. The junior scored on a lay-in and then two free throws. Bowers continued his scoring barrage to bring Lincoln within 25-21.

What could have been one of the biggest plays of the night did not go Lincoln’s way. After MacArthur missed a shot, Hullinger tried to track down the rebound in the corner. Although he got there, the Generals were able to take it away and find a wide open Amir Brummett at the top of the key for a three. In a game like this, a five point swing can be the difference. But, again, Lincoln did not give up. Ben Grunder closed out the first half scoring, leaving the Railers down just five at halftime 28-23.

Both teams were coming off wins on Tuesday night. Lincoln got the victory over Rochester while MacArthur was beating Glenwood by nine. Would fatigue be an issue in the second half? Was MacArthur better suited to play back to back nights?

Bowers started the second half scoring with a jumper just inside the three point arc to bring the lead down to three. More Armon Brummett as he hit a three and, following a Lincoln turnover, assisted on a basket to Zach Briggs as the Generals moved back out to an eight point lead at 33-25. But, by the time MacArthur would score again, things would change…big time.

The Railers broke out an old familiar friend, a double digit run powered by defense and an onslaught of three pointers. Hullinger hit his third three of the night to start the run, before Kirby connected for two in a row from long range. The second from Kirby with 4:17 left in the quarter gave the Railers a 34-33 lead they would relinquish. The push continued as Grunder scored, again on a back door layup, on a pass from Sloan. When Kirby hit his third three during the deluge, Lincoln had exploded to a 39-33 lead. Randy Thaxton finally stopped the bleeding, a 14-0 run by the Railers, but the offense was not done as the back door remained open for Bowers.

Up 41-35, maybe it was nerves or the pressure from MacArthur, but turnovers became an issue. Three straight possession saw the Railers hand opportunities to MacArthur (10-6, 6-3). Williams scored on easy shots near the basket on the first two, cutting the Lincoln lead to 41-39. Lincoln showed some real grit by not allowing the Generals to tie or take the lead even though ball handling was a problem in the quarter. Grunder scored to make it 43-39 and, as time ticked down at the end of the third, Bowers drove the left side of the lane and spun the ball off the glass with just the right amount of English to score the basket, giving Lincoln a six point lead after three quarters.

On Tuesday night, the Brummett twins combined for nine three pointers in their win over Glenwood. When Kirby and Hullinger started the Lincoln scoring in the fourth with back to back three pointers, the seniors had combined for nine of their own, giving MacArthur a taste of their own medicine. The long range sharpshooting has moved the lead to twelve at 51-39. Yet, the play that may have depleted all of the Generals’ chances was just moments away.

After Armon Brummett hit a three pointer to bring the lead to single digits, he was whistled for a foul in the back court trying to knock the ball away from Cannon. The foul was his fourth, which proved to be costly because his commentary to the official closest to him included enough of the wrong words to warrant the official to assess a technical foul, also counting as a personal foul. With 3:43 to go, and after just getting the deficit back to nine, Armon Brummett may have taken MacArthur’s best chance to the bench with him by fouling out.

Now, it felt the game would be decided at the free throw line and, this season, that has not been the most confidence inspiring spot for the Railers, shooting 62 percent from the line coming in to the game. Cannon stepped to the line and hit both free throws from the foul and then split the shots from the technical. The lead had grown back to twelve at 54-42 and Lincoln was in possession of the ball. Bowers continued his big night with another score as the lead grew to fourteen.

MacArthur’s final push included a three from Briggs and a free throw from Williams to make it a ten point margin again. On this night, free throws were not a problem. Bowers, Cannon, and Grunder stepped to the line, going six of eight down the stretch finishing 12 of 15 as a team for the game to pull out a 65-49 win.

It was quite the performance. Many who listen to our broadcasts or who have read these articles know I am a numbers person. The most staggering number from this one, at least for me, is after getting down by twelve in the first quarter, the Lincoln Railers, a team that came in averaging about 43 points a game, including scoring only 22 points in an overtime game last week, outscored the high-power MacArthur Generals 58-30 the rest of the way.

Wow.

The victory, which happened to be the 600th in the history of Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium, keeps Lincoln in contention for the tournament championship. With two games remaining, Lincoln joins Glenwood, Eisenhower, and Jacksonville at 2-1.

Bowers led the way with 19 points with Kirby adding 15 and Hullinger scoring 12 points. Grunder joined the double figure brigade with 11. Cannon and Bacon each chipped in with four.

The Railers continue in the tournament on Friday night at home against Jacksonville. Lincoln picked up a win at The Bowl early in the season, a 43-34 victory with Bowers and Kirby combining for 28 points. If you have not seen this Railer team, especially as of late, make it must-see basketball on Friday night. As Coach Alexander said “you never know what you’re going to see.”

On Wednesday night, you saw a glimpse of how good this team can be and any team on their schedule may want to think twice about overlooking the Lincoln Railers.

LINCOLN (65)

Bowers 7 5-6 19, Kirby 5 0-0 15, Hullinger 4 0-0 12, Grunder 4 3-3 11, Cannon 0 4-6 4, Bacon 2 0-0 4, Sloan 0 0-0 0. TEAM 22 12-15 65. 3pt FG 9 (Kirby 5, Hullinger 4).

MACARTHUR (49)

Ar.Brummett 17, Briggs 10, Williams 10, Am.Brummett 8, Thaxton 2, Ingram 2. TEAM 18 6-10 49. 3pt FG 7 (Ar.Brummett 3, Briggs 2, Am.Brummett 2).

LCHS 12-11-22-20 65
MACARTHUR 19-9-11-10 49

[Jeff Benjamin]