PITTSBURG, Kan. - A big first half helped Pittsburg State beat the Lincoln men's basketball team, 73-56, on Wednesday (Feb. 26).

Lincoln (10-17, 7-11 MIAA) beat Pittsburg State (10-17, 6-12 MIAA) in the first meeting of the season in Jefferson City back on Jan. 18, but the Gorillas got revenge on Wednesday, scoring 26 points off turnovers while shooting .459 from the field. The Blue Tigers also shot the ball well, hitting at a .426 clip from the floor, and both teams shot .270 from long distance.

Cameron Potts hit a layup for the first points of the game, and Lincoln led until Pittsburg State hit a trey to take a 6-4 lead at the 17:04 mark. After PSU converted a pair of old-fashioned three-point plays, Alafia Oluwasogo had a bucket to make it a six-point affair. Potts ended the day with 12 points, five rebounds and three assists while Oluwasogo had four points and four boards.

Marcel Burton hit a layup off a steal to cut the PSU lead down to 16-13 with 11:54 to go in the first half, but a dunk off a fast break started the Gorillas on a 7-2 scoring run. Potts briefly halted the momentum with a layup to cut the deficit down to 23-17, but the Gorillas answered with 13-straight points to take control of the game.

Marcus Cohen scored nine, Jonell Burton tallied nine points and four rebounds, and L'Kielynn Taylor had 11 boards and three steals to go with five points and a pair of assists. Marcel Burton collected five rebounds, and DJ Ward came off the bench to provide six points and a steal. Jordan Notch also had nine points for LU.

DaMani Jarrett and Zack Fields closed the scoring with two points apiece, with Jarrett also grabbing three rebounds. Lamont Ballard, Jr. represented Lincoln with a steal and an assist.

The Blue Tigers will close the regular season in Joplin, Mo. on Saturday (Feb. 29) when Lincoln plays Missouri Southern at 3:30 p.m. CST.