Blue Tigers Hold Off Wayne State’s Second Half Rally to Win 2024-25 Season Opener

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Lincoln men’s basketball team played tremendous defense in the first half and held off a second half rally to win its season opener, 55-52, against Wayne State on Friday night (Nov. 8).

The Blue Tigers held the Warriors to just 14 points in the first half, with Wayne State shooting just .115 from the field and .222 from three-point range. Lincoln scored 31 points in the first half, but Wayne State played its own brand of tenacious defense in the second half, giving up just 24 points to the Blue Tigers on .318 shooting. The biggest difference in the contest came at the free throw line, as WSU shot .600 in the second half while LU shot .706.

A 13-3 run to open the second half allowed Wayne State to pull within seven, but Franck Yetna forced a turnover and Mikey West hit a fast break three to put Lincoln back up by double digits. LU kept its advantage around 10 points until the final two minutes of the game, when a three-pointer launched the Warriors onto a 7-0 run that cut the Lincoln lead down to 52-50. With just under 20 seconds remaining, Yetna made a free throw to give LU a three-point cushion, and Lincoln intentionally fouled to send Wayne State to the free throw line with just over four ticks left on the clock.

Wayne State made both of its free throw attempts to pull within one, but was forced to foul after Lincoln successfully in-bounded the ball. Xavier Bell had 14 points in the win, including two very important ones on the free throws that gave LU its 55-52 lead. With 1.6 seconds to play, LU again intentionally fouled to prevent a three-point attempt, and the Warriors missed the first shot of a one-and-one. Yetna, who led LU with 10 rebounds, grabbed the board to secure Lincoln’s victory.

Ball had eight boards, a steal, an assist and a block while Yetna finished with six points and three assists. Tyler Chapman also had 14 points and pulled down five rebounds to go with three assists. Malcolm Davis, meanwhile, finished the night with eight points, four rebounds, and team-highs in both assists (four) and steals (three).

Max Ekono provided four points, five rebounds and a steal, and Tyson Robinson made a free throw while notching a steal and dishing an assist. Yousouf Timera contributed three points and a rebound to the winning cause while Caleb Wright tallied two points, a board and an assist. Matthieu Biembongo rounded out Lincoln with two rebounds and a steal.

The Blue Tigers will try to start the season 2-0 on Sunday (Nov. 10), as Lincoln hosts Kentucky Wesleyan at 1:00 p.m. CST.