Lincoln Railers win 40-32 on the road at Taylorville

~ Railers improve to 7-0 on the season

[December 08, 2021] The Lincoln Railers played at Taylorville on Tuesday night and the matchup between these two teams is always competitive and fun to watch. 

The Tornadoes struck first but it did not take long for the Railers to take over the lead, 5-2, after a three from Elijah Pollice and a basket in the paint by Payton Cook. After a Tyler Sasse three, the Railers opened up an 8-4 lead. The Tornadoes would close the first quarter on a 6-0 run and take over the lead, 10-8 the score. 

Jake Bivin was quick to tie the game, 10-10, as the second quarter got underway. The Tornadoes have always been an excellent shooting team from the perimeter and Will Bitschenauer brought Taylorville back with two consecutive threes. The Tornadoes took over a 16-10 lead. Lincoln was quick to react and came back to tie the game on buckets from Aidan Gowin and Bivin. Bivin made two really nice moves in the lane, getting one bucket off a steal and the other on a spin move. Bitschenauer got the lead back for his Tornadoes on another three in the quarter, 19-16 now the score. Bivin chipped away at the lead with a 15-footer that was good for two. Tyler Sasse would put the Railers back in front with his second three of the game. After a free throw by the Tornadoes, the halftime score was set at 21-20, with Lincoln holding the edge. 

After Taylorville jumped ahead 22-21 in the third quarter, the Railers went on a 10-0 run. Bivin started the scoring run off with a layup. Camden Nelson hit nothing but net from downtown. Then it was Pollice driving the lane for two. Finally, it was Nelson with the encore and another three to give the Railers a 31-22 cushion. Taylorville never managed to score a field goal in the quarter. The two free throws early on would be the Tornadoes only points in the quarter.

Lincoln headed to the fourth quarter up 31-22. Taylorville still made it a game in the final quarter, drawing to within four points with about two minutes left to play. But Lincoln would sink 9-of-11 free throws in the quarter and win by a final score of 40-32.

Elijah Pollice lead Lincoln with 11 points. Jake Bivin tossed in 10 points.

The Railers improve their record to 7-0 on the season.

The Lincoln JV won 58-29 over Taylorville. 

Trey Schilling led the Railers with 12 points. Drew Hayes contributed 10 points. 

Lincoln will play at Charleston on Friday night. The JV game will tip-off at 6:00 p.m. The Varsity game is set to start at 7:30 p.m.

Varsity scoring

Lincoln 40

Pollice 11

Bivin 10

Nelson 9

Sasse 6

Gowin 2

Cook 2

Taylorville 32

Bitschenauer 14

Friedrich 11

Heimsness 4

Markwell 3

JV scoring

Lincoln 58

Schilling 12

Hayes 10

Miller 9

Stevens 8

Kani Carson 7

Meagher 6

Kion Carson 4

Evers 2

Taylorville 29

Odam 9

Turvey 6

Anthony 5

Howard 3

Beckmier 3

Wiseman 3

[Teena Lowery]