The Miners and Lincoln were tied with under two minutes to go, but it was the Blue Tigers' Jared Boone who hit the big shot down the stretch to give Lincoln a 76-69 win Saturday at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.

Boone broke a 66-all tie with 1:39 to play to put Lincoln up by three, then the Blue Tigers held off the Miners by hitting just enough free throws. Lincoln hit five of its eight free throws in the final 1:04, but the Miners got only a three-point field goal from Aaron Hays during that stretch in their attempt to pull the game out.

UMR led 32-27 at the half despite the Blue Tigers' 53 percent shooting from the field. The Miners, however, held the Blue Tigers to just 15 shots from the floor in the first 20 minutes and had as much as an eight-point lead late in the half.

Lincoln scored the first eight points of the second half and took the lead at 35-32 on a three-pointer by Ryan Spearman at the 18:45 mark. UMR drew even on its next possession on a three by Owain Hall, then the two teams continued to battle on close terms throughout the half.

In a half with nine lead changes, the Miners built a 56-51 lead by the 6:45 mark on baskets by Justin Taylor and a three by Hays. UMR continued to hold that lead until Spearman scored on a fast break layup with 4:43 left to put the Blue Tigers back up 59-58.

Another three-pointer by Hall gave UMR the lead back at 61-59, but Ralph Mata answered with a three of his own to swing the advantage back to LU. The Miners got what turned out to be their last lead of the contest on a three-point play by Taurance Townsel with 3:13 to play to put them up 64-62.

After the Blue Tigers went up 66-64 on a lay-in by Boone with 2:20 to go, Townsel scored inside to tie the game with just under two minutes to go. But on Lincoln's next trip down the floor, Boone got free beyond the arc and drained a shot to put LU up for good.

The Miners were able to get to within three at 72-69 on Hays' three-pointer with 28 seconds to go, but Joseph Hutchingson's two free throws were enough to keep the Miners at bay.

Townsel led the Miners with 23 points and eight rebounds, while Hays posted a career-high with 17 points. UMR also got 11 points from Hall and 10 from Taylor, but shot only 39.7 percent from the field on the afternoon. Lincoln (4-4), which got 17 points from Boone, shot 54.3 percent for the day.

UMR did have its best day of the season from the free throw line by going 16-of-17 (94.1 percent) and outrebounded the Blue Tigers 32-29.

The Miners (3-5) will return to action Dec. 20 when they face Barry in the Lynn Holiday Classic in Boca Raton, Fla.