(Photo courtesy fiveborosports.com)
NEW YORK — Lincoln got the better of Jefferson again. And the Railsplitters didn’t need 35 points from Lance Stephenson to do it.
Senior Anthony Allen scored a game-high 25 points and added 10 rebounds, Stephenson tallied 20 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists and Allen West made two clutch free throws in the final minutes to give Lincoln an 87-83 victory over Jefferson in PSAL Brooklyn AA action before a capacity crowd at Lincoln that included St. John’s head coach Norm Roberts.
“I don’t want to lose, so I want to go undefeated in the PSAL,” Stephenson said. “I’m trying to win every game so that’s why I got my teammates involved in the first half.”Lincoln, which suffered a 20-point loss to Duncanville (Texas) that was broadcast on ESPN on Dec. 11, improved to 5-1 heading into Friday night’s game against Memphis (Tenn.) Briarcrest in the City of Palms Classic in Fort Myers, Fla. The Railsplitters will travel on Friday to that event, which features six of the Top 10 teams in the USA Today Super 25. Lincoln is No. 16.
“We play all the top teams so that’s going to be a good tournament out there,” Stephenson said. “I just want to win every game and get to the playoffs and play a TV game.”
The first- and third-place games will be shown on ESPNU on Dec. 23.
Coming off a two-point win over Bishop Loughlin Sunday in the Big Apple Challenge at Baruch, the Orange Wave (6-1) lost for the first time this year.
Stephenson, who entered averaging 34 points per game, scored 13 in the second half, including two vicious back-to-back, crowd-pleasing dunks – one two-handed and the other one-handed — to give the Railsplitters a 73-66 lead with about three minutes remaining.
He then drained a 3-pointer from the right wing to build an 81-72 lead with 1:24 left.
“He was very focused, especially today because they were determined to take him away,” Lincoln assistant Kenny Pretlow said. “And he bided his time and in the second half we had him running the point and he just hit open teammates.
“This is the type of game when he was a freshman or a sophomore, that he would’ve tried to take over too early. Today he bided his time and then at the end he came up with big plays.”
But Jefferson used a 7-0 spurt to cut the deficit to 81-79 with 42 seconds left. Edson Avila, Joel Wright and Marcus Romain each scored during the stretch.
Jefferson inbounded the ball with a chance to tie the game at that juncture, but turned the ball over.
Raymond Oloughlin (18 points) scored on a lefty layup in transition to give Lincoln an 83-79 lead.
After Davontay Grace (14 points) hit two foul shots to cut the lead to 83-79, Stephenson was fouled and lay face down on the court for a minute or so.
The referees ruled that he had to come out of the game even though Lincoln coach Dwayne “Tiny” Morton never went out on the floor. The ruling turned out to be incorrect.
With Stephenson on the sideline, Morton tabbed West to shoot the foul shots. He calmly drained both to push the lead to 85-81.
Stephenson then went back into the game, was fouled again and hit two free throws.
Wright hit a floater in the lane as time expired for the game’s final points.
Romain and Wright finished with 21 points apiece and Keith Spellman added 19 points before fouling out with 4:46 remaining. Wright added 12 rebounds
Lincoln out-rebounded Jefferson, 35-34, but appeared to hold a decided edge on the offensive glass.
“We don’t look at wins like this as big wins because we have to play them again. We may play them two more times, three more times. But it’s a building block to where we’re trying to get to, which is a city championship,” Pretlow said.
NOTES: Lance on Norm Roberts coming to the game: “I was surprised when he came in the building. He’s a good coach. I was just focused on the game,” he said. Asked if St. John’s was on his college list, he said, “They are on my list.”…Lance on Anthony Allen, who transferred from Adelphi: “I knew he was going to come through in one of the games. He didn’t play really good in the other games, but now I see him stepping up.”…Seton Hall assistant Scott Adubato and LIU assistant Lenny Pitt were in the crowd…Lincoln point guard Shaquille Stokes sat out the game for disciplinary reasons…Lincoln point guard Darwin “Buddha” Ellis scored 5 points while playing with a broken left pinky suffered in the ESPN game….Maryland-bound forward James Padgett had 7 point and 8 rebounds for Lincoln while playing on a sprained ankle.
