Lincoln Rallies in the Second Half to Remain Unbeaten on the Season

FORT SMITH, Ark. – The Lincoln men’s basketball team rallied from a five-point halftime deficit to defeat Ouachita Baptist, 68-63, and improve to 2-0 on the season on Saturday (Nov. 11). This marks the third time in the past four seasons that LU has started a season 2-0.

DJ Richardson led all scorers with 27 points and gathered four rebounds to go with an assist and a steal. Franck Yetna also scored in double figures, tallying 10 points, a steal and a rebound, while Elijah Farr finished with a team-high 11 rebounds as well as eight points, a pair of blocks and two assists.

Ouachita Baptist (0-2) shot .429 in the first half while holding the Blue Tigers .333 shooting as OBU took a 30-23 lead with two minutes to play until the intermission. Peyton Williams, who ended the day with four points, a steal, a rebound and an assist, knocked down two free throws to make it a five-point affair at the break. An early second half run, however, would later give OBU a 38-28 lead.

Tyson Robinson, who had five points on the evening, hit a jumper and Jose Roberto Tanchyn drained a three to start the comeback, and later in the contest Richardson scored five-straight points to cut the deficit down to 43-40. Tanchyn, who grabbed five rebounds to go with a block and an assist, scored nine points in the contest, including two on a jumper that pulled the Blue Tigers to within one. Richardson later gave LU the lead with a pair of free throws. 

Back-to-back layups by Yetna continued the run, and a jumper by Richardson eventually put Lincoln ahead, 54-43. The Blue Tigers would later lead by as many as 13, though Ouachita Baptist made four-straight treys to pull back within three in the closing seconds. Lincoln, which shot .600 overall in the second half, shot .800 at the line for the ballgame and sealed the victory with timely free throw shooting. Turnovers were also key, as the Blue Tigers took the ball away 12 times, resulting in 21 points for LU.

Sam Rautins led LU with three steals and three assists to go with five points and three boards. Lincoln shot .469 from the field and allowed Ouachita Baptist to make just seven three-point shots on the night.

Lincoln will head to St. Louis, Mo. on Wednesday (Nov. 15) to play Harris Stowe in a 7:30 p.m. CST contest.