JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The Lincoln men's basketball team struggled to overcome a cold shooting night as Washburn handed the Blue Tigers a 77-61 loss on Thursday (Feb. 10).

John Gaines made five of his six shot attempts to finish the night with 11 points and three rebounds while Destan Williams shot .500 from the field and ended the day with 14 points, four assists, three boards and two steals. As a team, however, the Blue Tigers shot .393 from the floor and .269 from long distance, and were out-rebounded by the Ichabods, 43-32.

Washburn (14-9, 11-6 MIAA) shot .552 from the field in the first half en route to a 39-26 halftime lead. The second half was more evenly played, as WU out-scored Lincoln (2-18, 1-14 MIAA) by just three points over the final 20 minutes. Each team had 12 turnovers in the contest, but Lincoln received 33 points from its bench compared to 19 for the Ichabod reserves.

Josh Wallace led Lincoln with five rebounds and scored nine points while blocking a shot and dishing an assist. Yaniel Vidal added eight points and four boards, and Arash Yaqubi had an assist while Derrick Woods provided two rebounds and dropped a dime. Alafia Oluwasogo, meanwhile, had five points and four rebounds.

Ni'Sean Rigmaiden chipped in two points and tied for the team-lead with four assists while also notching a steal and grabbing four rebounds. Mark Boland drained a three on his only shot attempt of the evening, and Chuck Wilson contributed two points, two boards, a block and a steal. Mekhi Kimble closed the scoring with seven points.

The Blue Tigers will next be in action on Saturday (Feb. 12) as Lincoln travels to Emporia, Kan. to play Emporia State at 3:30 p.m. CST.