Lincoln College Men's Basketball start the season 3-0

[November 10, 2017] 

The Lincoln College Men’s Basketball Team is off to a 3-0 start and the team is ranked no. 9 in the NJCAA DII National Poll.

The Lynx opened their season at home last week with a 100-59 win over the Hannibal-LaGrange JV squad.

Louis Griffith led the team with 23 points in his debut for Lincoln College. Griffith (Washington, IL) is a transfer from Bradley University. Edwin Rivera (Puerto Rico) scored 19 points and pulled down 8 rebounds in his debut for the Lynx. Sophomore Trayvon Tyler (Rockford, IL) was solid with 13 points and 9 assists for Lincoln. Tyrone Wright (St. Louis, MO) came off the bench to toss in 9 points and pull down 4 rebounds.

The Lynx then dominated the Culver-Stockton JV squad 105-73 in their next outing.

Freshman Roland Austin (South Bend, IN) had 21 points and two steals for the Lynx. Trayvon Tyler, last season’s Freshman of the Year, had his first double-double of the season with 18 points and 12 assists. Also hitting double digits in the scoring column for Lincoln was sophomore Desmian Devane (13), Louis Griffith (11) and sophomore Richard Simpkins (11). Simpkins is a 6’5 forward from Normal Community West.

This week the Lynx improved to 3-0 with a 90-56 win over the Illinois Wesleyan JV team. Freshman Edwin Rivera (Puerto Rico) and sophomore Desmian Devan (Chesapeake, VA) each scored 15 points to lead Lincoln College. Rivera also had eight rebounds to lead all players. Sophomore Myhkal Oliver (Chicago) had 13 points and sophomore Rhysante Ellis (New Bern, NC) had 12 points for Lincoln. Sophomore Trayvon Tyler had 6 points and 4 steals for the Lynx.

While Lincoln College is having no trouble putting points on the board in the first three victories, Head Coach Pat Lepper is most proud of the defense. “I’m really pleased on how hard my guys have defended. They have embraced the defense end of the floor.”

Looking ahead to this weekend’s game with Kirkwood, the coach is ready. “We are excited about the challenge. Kirkwood is currently ranked 14th in the country and they are extremely well coached. This will be a high-level ball game.”

Lincoln College will host Kirkwood Community College at 4 p.m. this Saturday at Nutt Arena. Kirkwood (3-0) is currently ranked no. 14 in the most recent NJCAA DII National Poll. It looks to be a good contest between the two teams.

[Teena Lowery]