Two-Way Blue gives HFU the blues

LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, PA - There are players that want to claim to be two-way hoopers, and then there is what Zahrion Blue (Princeton, N.J./Princeton) put on display Wednesday.

The junior swingman scored 21 points and locked down Holy Family's leading scorer as Lincoln posted 77-58 non-conference win at Manuel Rivero Gymnasium.

Holy Family's Manny Toha came into the game averaging 24.5 points per game, including a 30-point effort in the season opener.

Not today though.

Blue was intent on not allowing him to get going from the opening tip, and frustrated him to the tune of 1-of-11 shooting for a mere four points. He didn't let his supreme defensive effort to take away from his offense as he tallied his first double-double of the season with 21 points and 13 rebounds to go along with five assists, one block and one steal.

Lincoln defense limited the Tigers to just 27.9 percent from the floor and held them under the team-goal of 60 points.

Junior Korey Williams (Brooklyn, N.Y./LaSalle Academy) and Blue combined for 12 points during a 14-2 run that enabled Lincoln to open up a 14-point lead with 6:29 remaining. The double-digit lead didn't last long and LU only led by six at the break.

Holy Family got as close as four early in the second half, but back-to-back three-pointers capped a lightning fast 8-0 run for a 12-point edge.

The Tigers had one last gasp, cutting it to five, but they couldn't get any closer.

Williams finished with 19 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals despite battling foul trouble, while junior Alex Nunnally (Washington, D.C./Cesar Chavez Parkside) added 11 points and nine rebounds.

Lincoln (2-1) hosts Shepherd 4 p.m. Saturday in non-conference action.

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Lincoln University, the nation’s first degree-granting Historically Black College and University (HBCU), educates and empowers students to lead their communities and change the world. Lincoln offers a rigorous liberal arts education to a diverse student body of approximately 2,200 men and women in more than 35 undergraduate and graduate programs.