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| Taurance Townsel |
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Miners were up against a number of obstacles Tuesday night and nearly pulled out a win in spite of that, but Lincoln was able to hold on to beat UMR 67-60 at Jason Gymnasium.
UMR was dealing with foul difficulties and poor free throw shooting for much of the night, yet nearly erased a 10-point deficit in the second half in a physical contest.
The Miners shot 50 percent in the opening half, but committed 17 turnovers and found themselves trailing 27-25 at the intermission.
UMR took its first lead in the contest at the 11:18 mark on a basket by Taurance Townsel during the course of an 8-0 run. The Miners held the Blue Tigers scoreless for over four minutes during that stretch.
The Miners held onto the advantage until the final minute of the half when Ryan Spearman’s three-pointer put Lincoln back in front, but UMR got the lead back moments later on a jumper by Justin Taylor. However, Spearman hit another three just before the buzzer to give LU its halftime lead.
Lincoln extended its lead to six early in the second half before Aaron Hays knocked down the Miners’ first three-point shot of the game to cut the margin to three at 33-30. UMR had a chance to tie the game a couple of minutes later, but turned the ball over and the Blue Tigers started a 9-2 run to build their biggest lead of the contest.
The lead stood at 10 for the Blue Tigers with just over 11 minutes to play when the Miners ran off seven straight points to cut the lead to 47-44. With 7:13 left, the Miners lost Townsel to his fifth foul while trailing by six, but UMR drew to within two at 55-53 on a three-pointer by Justin Taylor with 5:43 to go.
DeJon Slaughter hit one of two at the line to make it a two-point game again at 56-54, then Taylor knocked down another three with 3:10 to play to get UMR to within one at 58-57. LU’s Jared Boone missed an open layup on the next trip down the floor, but Taylor missed two chances to put the Miners in front with just over two minutes to go.
The Miners got another chance after Mario Lucchesi missed two free throws with 1:49 to go, but he made a steal near midcourt and hit a layup to make the lead three. After the Miners missed at the other end, Spearman tipped in a missed shot with 52 seconds left to get the LU lead back to five again.
Taylor led the Miners with 22 points, while Townsell had 13 points before fouling out and Aaron Hays finished with 11.
UMR finished the game at 44.2 percent from the field, but struggled at the free throw line and with foul trouble throughout the contest. The Miners made just 19 of 36 at the line -- after starting 9-of-24 -- and lost three players to fouls.
The Miners (1-1) will play over the Thanksgiving weekend in the Missouri-St. Louis Classic, beginning with Saturday’s 3 p.m. game against Robert Morris-Springfield. UMR will also take on Harris-Stowe Sunday at 1 p.m.
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