TAHLEQUAH, Okla. - Five Blue Tigers reached double figures as the Lincoln men's basketball team used good shooting and even better defense to earn a 77-66 win over Northeastern State on Saturday (Jan. 6).

Amariontez Ivory led LU with 18 points and dished three assists while Terrance Smith posted a double-double with 11 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Calvin Chambers led Lincoln with six assists while Maurice Mason was next with four. Chambers and Mason respectively scored 10 and 12 points.

Lincoln (7-8, 1-5 MIAA) shot .462 from the floor and was a perfect 19-for-19 from the free throw line as LU earned its first MIAA victory of the season. The Blue Tigers held Northeastern State (3-11, 0-6 MIAA) to .393 shooting from the floor and .231 from three-point land, and also forced the RiverHawks into 12 turnovers.

The RiverHawks scored the first seven points of the game and led for much of the first half until a three-pointer from Paris Parham gave LU a 23-22 advantage with just under six minutes until halftime. Northeastern State tied the game twice after that and briefly regained the lead until six-straight points from Smith sent Lincoln into the break up 36-32.

Lincoln built a 10-point lead early in the second half, but NSU went on a 23-5 run to go up 57-49 with a little over eight minutes left in the contest. Grant Olsson stopped the run by hitting a trey, John Burton added a layup and a bucket by Marquise Williams put LU on top for good. Lincoln's defense allowed just nine points over the final 8:08 of the contest.

Williams came very close to a double-double, finishing with 12 points and nine boards to go with three blocks, and Parham ended his day with six points. Burton contributed five points and four rebounds to the winning effort while Olsson finished with three boards. Darrius Spencer provided a block and a steal off the bench.

The Blue Tigers will return to Jason Gym on Thursday night (Jan. 11) to take on Pittsburg State in a 7:30 p.m. CST contest.