PITTSBURG, Kan. - The Lincoln men's basketball team led at halftime, but Pittsburg State took advantage of a big second half to defeat the Blue Tigers, 86-75, on Wednesday night (Dec. 15).

Josh Wallace converted an old-fashioned three-point play to open the scoring, and later hit a layup to give LU an early five-point lead. Destan WIlliams drained a shot from three-point land to put Lincoln ahead 15-6 with 12:30 to play, and a trey by Yaniel Vidal made it a 21-9 game in favor of the Blue Tigers entering the final 10 minutes of the opening half. The Blue Tigers shot .600 from long distance in the first half, and made seven treys on the evening.

A three-pointer with 2:48 until halftime began a 9-3 PSU run to end the half with the Blue Tigers ahead, 37-34. Back-to-back treys to open the second half allowed Pittsburg State (3-8, 2-3 MIAA) to take the lead, and the Gorillas led by as many as 15 with 7:18 remaining. John Gaines scored the contest's next three points, and Tre'Vion Crawford hit a three before a layup by Gaines pulled LU to within seven, and Williams later hit a bucket to get Lincoln (1-8, 0-4 MIAA) within five. That was as close as LU would get to completing its rally, however, as an 11-1 run gave Pittsburg State back control of the game. 

Williams led Lincoln with 13 points and had two steals, a pair of rebounds and four assists on the night. Wallace ended the night with 11 points and seven rebounds, as well as two assists, and Chuck Wilson provided 10 points, six boards, a pair of assists and two steals. Ni'Sean Rigmaiden, meanwhile, scored seven points and grabbed four rebounds.

Derrick Woods blocked two shots and chipped in six points, Gaines had a steal to go with seven points and three rebounds, and Mekhi Kimble tallied four points and an assist. Alafia Oluwasogo and Vidal each had six points, with Oluwasogo also grabbing four rebounds, and Crawford rounded out Lincoln with five points.

The Blue Tigers will play their final game of 2021 on Saturday (Dec. 18), as Lincoln travels to Joplin, Mo. to play Missouri Southern at 3:30 p.m. CST.