JOPLIN, Mo. - The Lincoln men's basketball team made more than half of its shot attempts, but Missouri Southern ended up with an 88-76 victory over the Blue Tigers on Saturday (Feb. 29).

Missouri Southern entered the weekend ranked No. 22 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches' Division II poll, but it was Lincoln with the better shooting performance, as the Blue Tigers went .519 from the field compared to .415  by the Lions. MSSU also shot .368 from long distance while Lincoln shot .467 from three-point land, and LU went 13-for-17 at the line (.765).

The main difference on Saturday was ball control, as Missouri Southern (21-7, 14-5 MIAA) scored 23 points off of 16 LU turnovers. Lincoln (10-18, 7-12 MIAA) managed to convert nine MSSU turnovers into just 10 points, while the Lions won the rebounding battle, 37-31. Lincoln's bench out-scored Missouri Southern's reserves, 37-24.

One of those bench players was Cameron Potts, who led Lincoln with 16 points while collecting six rebounds and dishing two assists. Marcus Cohen and L'Kielynn Taylor each scored 12, with Cohen dishing five assists and pulling down four rebounds. Taylor had a team-high seven boards, and Alafia Oluwasogo added seven points, a par of assists and three rebounds.

DaMani Jarrett added six points and four rebounds to the Lincoln cause, and Marcel Burton, Jonell Burton and DJ Ward each finished with five points, with Marcel Burton also tallying three rebounds and two assists. Zack Fields had LU's only block of the day and chipped in two points, and Lamont Ballard, Jr. and Bansi King each scored three points.

While Saturday's game closed the regular season, the Blue Tigers have qualified for the postseason for the fifth-straight year, and will head to Kansas City, Mo. on Wednesday (March 4) to play in the first round of the MIAA Men's Basketball Championship.