JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The Lincoln men's basketball team held a clinic on strong defense on Saturday (Jan. 11) as the Blue Tigers beat Southwest Baptist, 67-45. The victory, the sixth in a row for the Blue Tigers, improves Lincoln to 12-3 overall, 4-3 in GLVC play and 9-1 inside Jason Gym.

Lincoln was especially outstanding on defense in the first half, forcing Southwest Baptist (6-6, 3-3 GLVC) to miss each of its first 17 field goal attempts. The Bearcats, who scored 10 points at the free throw line during the first 20 minutes, did not make a field goal until there was 3:37 left until halftime. By the intermission, SBU had made just four shots from the floor and was shooting .182 overall.

The Blue Tigers continued to stifle the Bearcats in the second half, allowing Southwest Baptist to make just seven field goals, including only three from long distance. For the contest, Lincoln held Southwest Baptist to .262 shooting overall and .250 from beyond the arc. LU, which finished with a 36-25 advantage in rebounding, shot .469 from the field and .833 at the line while making 11 total treys.

Franck Yetna led LU with 22 points and pulled down five rebounds to go with a block and a steal. Max Ekono had team-highs in rebounds (13) and assists (six) and had a steal to go with four points. Tyler Chapman added 16 points, four assists and three boards to the winning cause while Malcolm Davis ended the afternoon with 12 points, seven boards, two blocks and an assist.

Mikey West also had a block and chipped in six points while dishing three assists, grabbing three rebounds and notching a pair of steals. Tyson Robinson matched West with two takeaways and scored seven points while pulling down a rebound. Matthieu Biembongo had two boards while Caleb Wright and Youssouf Timera also represented LU in Saturday's win.

Lincoln will try to extend its winning streak to seven on Thursday night (Jan. 16) when the Blue Tigers host Missouri-St. Louis at 7:30 p.m. CST.