FORT SMITH, Arkansas – The Ouachita men's basketball team fell to the Lincoln University Blue Tigers by a score of 68-63 to close out the GAC/MIAA Conference Challenge Saturday night.
After Lincoln (2-0, 0-0 MIAA) made the first shot of the game, Ouachita (0-2, 0-0 GAC) answered with back-to-back jumpers for its first lead. The Tigers then found themselves in the driver's seat, holding onto that lead for the next 10 minutes until the Blue Tigers tied it at 21 with 6:38 left in the half. Ouachita went back on top and pushed its lead to seven with 2:03 remaining. Two LU free throws cut the Tigers' lead to five just before halftime and Ouachita went into the break up 30-25.
Ouachita came out hot in the second half, increasing its lead to double digits after two and a half minutes. But a 22-3 run for Lincoln put Ouachita down by 11 with just under nine minutes to play.
The purple Tigers weren't done yet though, as three straight three-pointers in the span of 41 seconds cut the deficit to four points with 16 seconds left. After two Lincoln free throws, another three-point shot made it 66-63 with four seconds left, but it was too late. Lincoln iced the game with two more free throws and Ouachita dropped the game by the score of 68-63.
Tylar Haynes led the Tigers scorers for the second straight game, scoring 16 in tonight's contest. Haynes also led in rebounds, grabbing 10 of them for his first double-double of the season.
Emorie Knox was next in scoring with 13 points, followed by
MJ Leslie with 12 and
Reggie Martin with 10 to round out the Tigers in double digits.
Rollin Belton was second in rebounding with nine.
The Tigers will look to bounce back as they take on Ecclesia College on Thursday, November 16 in the 2023-24 home opener at Bill Vining Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
