Railers bounce back with hard fought win
LINCOLN 43, EISENHOWER 38

[January 22, 2017]  Three and a half weeks ago, Lincoln and Decatur Eisenhower crossed paths at the Holiday Classic in Collinsville. Earlier that same day, the Railers had to face top-seeded Edwardsville so by the time the day’s second matchup came around, Lincoln was pretty well worn. The fatigue on the court and especially at the free throw line as the Railers made only seven of 16 from the line and fell to the Panthers 38-31.

Fast forward to Saturday night when, once again, the Railers allowed the Panthers to score38 points. However, this time, it was the only game of the day and Lincoln brought the three point arsenal to Rochester on the final night of the Central State Eight Non-City Tournament. It is a valuable asset to have on hand as Lincoln connected for nine three pointers on their way to a 43-38 win over Eisenhower. The win put Lincoln at 3-2 for the tournament and 14-7 overall.

After Eisenhower’s Yansyn Taylor started the scoring, Nolan Hullinger put the Railers on the board with the first of Lincoln’s nine threes on the night. The Panthers raced out to a 7-3 lead after baskets from Stefon Jarrett and Stephon Bobbitt. For both teams, scoring was a problem because neither team was able to establish any rhythm as turnovers were the flavor the day. As soon as the Railers would turn the ball over, Eisenhower would try to be too aggressive and give the ball right back to Lincoln. After the lead grew to 7-3 and frustrated with play on both ends, Lincoln Coach Neil Alexander took a timeout to try to refocus his squad. Isaiah Bowers drew Lincoln closer with a basket followed by a Drew Bacon free throw.

Julian Jones scored to put the Panthers up 9-6. The first quarter came to a close but not before Grunder hit a three pointer to tie the game at 9. The first eight minutes were hard to watch as neither team could get into any type of groove. Surely, the second quarter would be a bit smoother.

The three pointers continued to fall for Lincoln as the second started. Bryson Kirby started with a three, the first of five on the night for the senior. It marked the third game in a row he has made five three pointers in a game. Lincoln was the victim of having Jacksonville score the first six points in the quarter in the first, third, and fourth last night so the Railers tired it on for size Saturday night. Putting the first six on the board put Lincoln up 15-9 and the Railers were finally starting to show some cohesiveness and rhythm. But, with 4:23 left in the first half, both teams had to wait out a 10 to 15 minute delay for blood.

It was noticed that a number of the Eisenhower players on the court had blood spots in various places on their uniforms. The officials stopped played to treat the affected garment with cleaner before play could start. Investigation showed there were also blood spots to clean on the court. Eventually, the source of the blood, a cut on Drew Bacon’s finger, was found. Any energy that had been built up in the contest was slowing seeping out of the gym but the guidelines deem that all precautions are taken when blood is involved. After the cleanup was complete, play finally resumed.
Quan Bradford pulled Eisenhower within four with a basket but another strong move from Grunder put Lincoln back up by six. Up 17-14, Lincoln ran a familiar play to try to score at the end of the quarter. When Bowers stood at the high post and found Kirby in the corner for a three as time was ticking down, the Railers had pushed the halftime advantage to six at 20-14. It was certainly a better second quarter than the first time these teams played when Lincoln was held scoreless at Collinsville.

The third quarter started with Eisenhower showing their strength on the offensive boards as Bobbitt put in a rebound to cut the lead to 20-16. During the game earlier neither team had more than a seven point lead and this game had that same feel. However, the Lincoln offense kicked into gear especially from the outside. Grunder and Kirby hit from long range before Bowers scored on a driving layup. When Kirby connected again, in the blink of an eye, the Railer lead had grown to 31-16. Free throws from Jarrett stopped the 11-0 run but another drive from Grunder pushed the lead back to 15. Kirby, just as he had done at the end of the second quarter, drained a three pointer at the buzzer, sending Lincoln into the fourth with a 36-20 lead.

Some in the building started to get the feeling this one might be already in the win column. Unfortunately, some of those folks were wearing Railer green uniforms.

“We got up there at the end of the third quarter and I think we started thinking this one was over,” Lincoln Coach Alexander said. “This is a good Eisenhower and you can’t let up even for just a minute.”

Forcing the Railers into turnovers and bad shots, Eisenhower took advantage and answered Lincoln’s earlier 11-0 run with one of their own, fueled mostly by Stephon Bobbitt who scored ten of his team high 15 points in the fourth quarter. Whether offensive rebounds or drives to the lane with no obstacles, Bobbitt put his team on his shoulders and appeared to be willing his team back into the game. By the time the run was over, the Panthers were down just five at 36-31. One of the key moments of the night saw another miss from the Railers but Bacon was there was the rebound and putback. Even though he missed the free throw, just his presence under the boards gave Lincoln a chance to take a breath.

As the teams traded scores, it became clear Eisenhower was going to run out of time as long as Lincoln made their free throws, a struggle in the first matchup. Down the stretch, Lincoln made only three of six from the line, but Eisenhower could not take advantage of the misses. Two of the misses were the front end of one and bonus, but this turned out to be Lincoln’s night. Bowers closed out the scoring with a pair of free throws with 16 seconds left.

With four teams tied at 3-2 in the tourney, the winner of the tournament was decided by free throw percentage. With Lincoln, MacArthur, Eisenhower, and Jacksonville at 3-2 (Glenwood missed out on a five way tie when they fell to Rochester 32-24). When all the numbers were crunched, it was Eisenhower that got the top spot in the tournament.

“I get frustrated with our guys, but if I didn’t get frustrated that would mean I didn’t care. And I do care. I want us to become a good basketball team,” Alexander said. “Just think about it. Last week or so, this team (Eisenhower) scored 94 points and tonight we held them to 38. Think about that.”

Kirby and Grunder led with 15 each while Bowers added 6. Hullinger and Bacon each scored three, while Cannon hit a free throw.

The Railers are not in action again until Friday when they travel to MacArthur. You have to believe they will be looking for serious payback after the Railers knocked off the Generals earlier this week. If you are planning on making the trip down Route 121, you may want to arrive early. I would guess they will want as many fans there so Railer Nation will need to show up as we know they can. Sophomores tip at 6:00 with varsity scheduled for 7:30pm.

LINCOLN (43)

Kirby 5 0-0 15, Grunder 5 2-3 15, Bowers 2 2-2 6, Hullinger 1 0-0 3, Bacon 1 1-4 3, Cannon 0 1-2 1, Sloan 0 0-0 0. TEAM 14 6-11 43. 3pt FG 9 (Kirby 5, Grunder 3, Hullinger).

EISENHOWER (38)

Bobbitt 15, Jarrett 11, J.Jones 4, Young 2, Taylor 2, Bradford, K.Jones 2. TEAM 14 9-11 38. 3pt FG 1 (Bobbitt).

LCHS 9-11-16-7 43
EISENHOWER 9-5-6-18 38

[Jeff Benjamin]