West Chester Drops Non-League Affair To Lincoln, 86-83

Box Score

WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Cory Blake (West Chester, Pa./Rustin) and Thomas White (Chester, Pa./Penn Wood) each posted double-doubles, but it was not enough to offset a acharging Lincoln squad in the late stages of the second half as the Lions prevailed over the Golden Rams, 86-83 Tuesday evening.
 
West Chester (3-2) saw its modest two-game win streak come to a close against Lincoln (3-3) inside Hollinger Field House.
 
In a game that saw 11 ties and nine lead changes, the two teams were never separated by more than four points over the final 10 minutes of the contest. West Chester took its largest lead of the game at 12 points with 15:05 to go in the game. But, that is when Lincoln began picking away at the deficit.
 
With the Rams holding onto a double-digit lead (10 points) with 12:31 to play, Lincoln went on an 8-1 run over the next two minutes to cut its deficit to three on a dunk by Joshua Davis. The final eight minutes of the tilt witnessed four more lead changes and five ties.
 
Lincoln's Kyle Aiken hit a pair of free throws at the 3:12 mark that knotted the game at 78-apiece.Then, Quaman Burton hit a jumper with 2:23 left that gave the visitor's the lead for good, 80-78.
 
West Chester crawled back to within one with a last-minute push. Burton converted a layup with 1:12 to play that put Lincoln on top, 84-80. Matt Wiseley (Emmaus, Pa./Emmaus) stole the rock and hit Raheem Hall (Ardmore, Pa./Lower Merion) streaking to the basket. Hall made the layup and was fouled, converting the free throw that pulled the Golden Rams to within striking distance, 84-83.
 
Wiseley stole the ball again with 17 seconds on the clock, and West Chester called timeout. However, Blake missed a shot with nine ticks left, and Burton grabbed the rebound and hit Aiken at midcourt, who went in for a fast-break layup that made it an 86-83 game with four seconds left.
 
Avery Brown took the inbounds pass and dribbled over midcourt, heaving up a desperation 3-pointer that was off the mark at the buzzer, and Lincoln's comeback was complete.
 
West Chester shot just 35.4 percent from the floor (23-for-65). But it was at the foul line that the Golden Rams let the game slip away. WCU got to charity stripe 56 times, but could only knock down 34 of those attempts (60.7 percent). Meanwhile, Lincoln went 23 of 31 from the line (74.2) to stay in the game.
 
Ben Mingledough (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) led West Chester with 18 points. White added 16 points and 10 rebounds. Blake posted 10 points and 11 boards. Hall had 12 points.
 
Burton had 18 points for Lincoln while Aiken had 16, before fouling out. Davis registered 14 points, and Tony Efese had 10 for the Lions.
 
West Chester returns to Hollinger Field House on Saturday for a 3 p.m. contest against Philadelphia University.