- Posted in All University
- Category: AthleticsCampus News
LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, PA - Holding a one-point lead with six seconds remaining with 999 career points in his pocket, junior Zahrion Blue (Princeton, N.J./Princeton) calmly stepped to the line and sunk a pair of free throws that provided the margin of victory as the Lincoln University men's basketball team held on for the 63-60 win over reigning Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) champion Winston-Salem State Saturday at Manuel Rivero Gymnasium.
It was the offensive rebound on the miss of the front end of the one-and-one that set Blue for this historic moment and the huge victory.
Blue finished with 16 points, the last four coming from the free-throw line as the Rams were attempting to make a spirited comeback. He added seven rebounds with four assists and one steal.
With Lincoln leading by seven points with 91 seconds remaining, the reigning champs gave it one last hurrah. The Rams forced backcourt turnovers on three consecutive possessions and with 24 seconds, trailed by just one.
The action led to a Lions timeout and coming out of the break, Lincoln ensure the ball was in the hands of Blue, and he made the game plan work as he was fouled and made the first two of four game-sealing free throws.
Early on, Winston-Salem seemingly dominated the action and didn't allow a single second-chance point as the Rams opened up a six-point lead with 10 minutes remaining in the opening half.
Coming out of the Lincoln timeout, the Lions settled in to score 16 of the next 21 points – turning a six-point deficit into a five-point lead. And the Lions never trailed again.
WSSU pulled to within one, but junior Amir Stevens (Valley Stream, NY/Valley Stream Central) announced his presence with five points at the end of the half, and Lincoln led by four going into the locker room.
It didn't take long for LU to cause consternation for the Rams as freshman Janaie Coates (Newark, N.J./University), freshman Bakir Cleveland (Newark, N.J. /University), and junior Isaiah Mills drilled back-to-back-to-back three-pointers for the game's first double-digit lead.
Winston-Salem wouldn't quite go away. The Rams slowly chipped away at the Lincoln lead and with 5:44 remaining, the LU advantage was just two points.
Much like the first half, Stevens stemmed the tide with a pair of free throws and Blue hit his only three-pointer of the game – pushing Lincoln's lead to seven points. It hovered between five and seven points until the aforementioned WSSU run that ended with four Blue free throws.
Lincoln (9-4 overall, 2-0 CIAA) welcomes Livingstone (3-3 overall, 0-1 CIAA) to Manuel Rivero 7:30 p.m. Monday for its third straight CIAA home contest.
