JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The Lincoln men's basketball team led from nearly start to finish and shot .913 from the line to top Missouri Western, 66-52, on Thursday evening (Feb. 7).

The win, the fourth-straight for the Blue Tigers, puts Lincoln in second place in the MIAA standings heading into Saturday's (Feb. 9) 1:00 p.m. CST showdown with Northwest Missouri, the No. 1 team in the NABC Division II rankings. Lincoln improved to 16-5 on the season and 9-3 in league play, while the Griffons fell to 10-13 overall and 4-8 in the conference.

Terrance Smith led all scorers with 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds while Ni'Sean Rigmaiden and Jonell Burton each added 11 points. Rigmaiden additionally grabbed seven rebounds and tallied two steals while Jonell Burton provided four rebounds.

Except for a brief 2-2 tie early in the contest, Lincoln led the entire game, including taking a 39-24 lead when Smith made three free throws with 0.1 on the clock. Smith went 13-for-13 at the line while, as a team, the Blue Tigers were 21-for-23. LU additionally held a 42-32 advantage in rebounding and limited the Griffons to .298 shooting from the floor and .185 from three-point land.

Grant Olsson contributed six points and six boards, and L'Kielynn Taylor pulled down eight rebounds to go with four points and a block. John Burton tallied two points, three rebounds, a block, an assist and a steal, and Darrius Spencer made a free throw, blocked a shot and collected three rebounds.

Amariontez Ivory, meanwhile, closed out the scoring with six points and two rebounds.