PITTSBURG, Kan. - The Lincoln men's basketball team built an early lead and held off Pittsburg State in the second half to earn a 77-69 victory over the Gorillas on Thursday night (Jan. 12).

Jaylon Smith nearly posted a second-straight double-double, as he finished with 30 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals. Anthony Virdure scored 16 points, pulled down five rebounds and dished six assists while Maurice Mason added 11 points and six assists.

Pittsburg State (3-12, 1-6 MIAA) scored the first seven points of the contest, but a layup by Richie Lewis followed by back-to-back buckets from Virdure pulled Lincoln (11-5, 4-3 MIAA) to within one. The Gorillas eventually built their lead back up to five, but a three-pointer from Smith with 11:25 remaining gave the Blue Tigers their first lead of the evening, 16-14. Smith then hit another trey on LU's next possession, and the Blue Tigers did not trail again the rest of the night.

Lincoln led by as many as 19 early in the second half, but Pittsburg State cut the advantage down to 59-49 entering the final 10 minutes of the game. A three-pointer from Smith started LU on an 11-4 run, and the Blue Tigers maintained a double-digit lead from that point forward until the final minute of the game. The Gorillas eventually pulled back within seven, but got no closer as Lincoln exited Pittsburg with an eight-point victory.

Chase Morfeld came off the bench to score eight points for LU, and Lewis and Kevin Bolen each finished with four points apiece. Lewis additionally tallied three steals and Bolen provided a pair of rebounds. Tacourrus Mattox and Rod Ollison closed the scoring with two points apiece, with Mattox also grabbing two boards.

Pittsburg State finished with a 39-25 edge in rebounding, but the Blue Tigers forced the Gorillas into 17 turnovers, scoring 18 points off those takeaways. Lincoln shot .490 from the floor and .444 from long distance on the evening.

The Blue Tigers will next travel to Joplin, Mo. on Saturday (Jan. 14) to play Missouri Southern in a 3:00 p.m. CST contest.