JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Hot shooting by Anthony Virdure and Jaylon Smith combined with a tremendous defensive effort in the second half helped the Lincoln men's basketball team defeat Northeastern State, 81-65, on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 7).

Virdure led all players with 32 points and notched seven rebounds, three assists and a steal to help lead LU to its 10th victory of the season. Combined with last year's 16-win campaign, the Blue Tigers have now recorded back-to-back 10-win seasons for the first time since 2000-01 and 2001-02.

Smith, meanwhile, posted his fourth double-double of the year, as he scored 19 points, pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds, dished four assists, blocked three shots and tallied two steals. As a team, Lincoln (10-5, 3-3 MIAA) shot .426 from the floor while holding Northeastern State (3-11, 2-4 MIAA) to .383 shooting for the game. The Blue Tigers also finished with a 42-26 advantage in rebounding.

Lincoln got off to a slow start, as Northeastern State made 10 three-pointers in the first half en route to an early 29-19 lead. A layup by Rod Ollison launched the Blue Tigers onto a 14-3 run that gave LU a brief 33-32 lead, but NSU took the advantage back with a quick layup with just under five minutes until hafltime. The Blue Tigers roared back to take a 40-34 lead with 3:29 on the first half clock, with a trey by Virdure capping off the Lincoln effort. That ended up being LU's final bucket of the period, however, as Northeastern State scored nine-straight points to close the half with a 43-40 lead.

The second half was all Lincoln, however, as the Blue Tigers held the RiverHawks to .258 shooting over the final 20 minutes and allowed NSU to make just two of its 11 tries from three-point land. Lincoln's defense proved so tough that Northeastern State was held to only seven points over the game's final 10 minutes and 32 seconds. The Blue Tigers ended up out-scoring the RiverHawks, 81-65, in the second half.

Maurice Mason finished third among the Blue Tigers with nine points and grabbed two rebounds to go with an assist and a steal. Chase Morfeld came off the bench to provide seven points, three boards and three assists while Tacourrus Mattox scored six points and pulled down nine rebounds.

Richie Lewis contributed six points and three rebounds to the winning effort while Ollison and O'Shai Clark each had a pair of rebounds. Clark also had a steal.

The Blue Tigers will return to the road next week for a pair of games, beginning on Thursday (Jan. 12) with a 7:30 p.m. CST contest at Pittsburg State.